FEDERER GIVES SWISS LEAD IN DAVIS CUP, USA ALSO AHEAD 2-0 BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 13th September 2014

Davis Cup World Group Semifinal match - Switzerland vs Italy

FEDERER GIVES SWISS LEAD IN DAVIS CUP, USA ALSO AHEAD 2-0 BY RICKY DIMON

epa04397100 Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a ball to Simone Bolelli of Italy during the first single match of the Davis Cup World Group Semifinal match between Switzerland and Italy, at Palexpo, in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 September 2014. EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI |

Roger Federer bounced back from a U.S. Open semifinal loss to eventual champion Marin Cilic by winning the opening singles rubber in this weekend’s Davis Cup tie between Switzerland and Italy on Friday. Federer treated the home crowd in Geneva to a 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Simone Bolelli to give the Swiss a 1-0 lead against Italy.

“I had to wait for a while to get my first break,” said Federer, who could not solve his opponent’s serve throughout the first set. “After that it was easy to play with the lead, but it was a tough match as the score suggests. Not being broken is always a great thing. That’s what most pleased me.”

Stan Wawrinka followed suit and put the host nation ahead 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 rout of Fabio Fognini. Federer and Wawrinka, who won Olympic doubles gold together in 2008, are expected to contest Saturday’s rubber against Andreas Seppi and Paolo Lorenzi.

Switzerland and France are now one rubber away each from the Davis Cup final. Also enjoying home-court advantage in their tie, the French jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the two-time defending champion Czech Republic thanks to victories by Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Gasquet crushed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 and Tsonga took care of Lukas Rosol 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

Among the eight playoff ties featuring teams looking to get back in the World Group for 2015 Davis Cup action is a clash between the United States and Slovakia. Like Switzerland and France, the host Americans got off to a 2-0 start without dropping a single set. John Isner hammered Norbert Gombos 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2 and Querrey easily handled Martin Klizan 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-3.

Isner came out of the gates somewhat slow but still ended up firing 27 aces while breaking serve three times in the final two sets. The 6’10” American saved the only two break points he faced.

“Whether it’s the finals or whether it’s the World Group playoff, there’s going to be some nerves,” Isner explained. “I was a bit nervous in the beginning. I had to really dig deep to win that first set. But once I got that under my belt, I exhaled and then I started to play better.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Davis Cup, geneva, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych, US Open tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

September 13, 2014 at 8:03 am

@rogerfederer GIVES #SWISS LEAD IN @DavisCup, #USA ALSO AHEAD 2-0 BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/gVZ8BKosCe #tennis #Federer #DavisCup