TENNIS DAVIS CUP – The Italian team formed by Fognini and Bolelli fought back from 1-2 down to beat Wawrinka and Chiudinelli in the doubles match with 7-5 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-2 in front of 18500 spectators who packed the Palaexpo in Geneva. The Italian has closed the gap to 1-2 to keep their hopes alive to qualify for the Davis Cup final. In Paris Tsonga and Gasquet beat Stepanek and Berdych to secure the decisive third point for “Les Bleus” who return to the Davis Cup for the first time since 2010. Diego Sampaolo
Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli recovered from a 1-2 deficit to take a dramatic win in the semifinal of the Davis Cup in Geneva to the disappointment of the home crowd who was hoping to seal the win and qualify in advance for the final of the 2014 Davis Cup.
Swiss captain Severin Luthi decided to rest Roger Federer who was replaced by his close friend Marco Chiudinelli. It was the third time that Chiudinelli teamed up with Wawrinka in the Davis Cup. In one of these two matches Chiudinelli and Wawrinka lost an epic match at the Palaexpo in Geneva in 2013 against Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol with an incredible 24-22 in the fifth set after 7 hours and 2 minutes setting a record for a doubles match in the Davis Cup)
After losing the first set with 5-7, the Swiss team bounced back by breaking serve for 4-2 in the second set. The home team saved a break-back point chance and sealed the win in the second set with 6-3.
The third set went on serve until the eleventh game when Chiudinelli and Wawrinka got the break to take the 6-5 lead before holding serve to go up 2-1 on sets.
The Swiss team looked in control of the match until Fognini and Bolelli broke serve in the sixth game of the fourth set to take the 4-2 lead before sealing the set to force the match to the fifth set.
Chiudinelli and Wawrinka were broken in the third game of the fifth set to trail 1-2. The Italians held serve in the next game and got a second break lead before clinching the fifth set on the third match point.
The home team is still favourite to qualify for their second Davis Cup final as they need one win on Sunday to seal the third point. In the opening match of the reverse rubber matches Federer will take on Fognini. In 1992 a Swiss team featuring Jakob Hlasek and Marc Rosset lost the only previous Davis Cup final for this country against a star-studded US team led by John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and André Agassi.
France beat Czech Republic 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-1
Richard Gasquet and Jo Wilfred Tsonga sealed the decisive third point for the French team by beating Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych in a spectacular four- set match with 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-1 after three hours and thirty-five minutes in front of the enthusiastic home crowd who packed the famous Phillippe Chatrier at the Roland Garros in Paris on a sunny afternoon. The French win put an end to the two-year domination of the Czech team who won the last two editions of the Davis Cup
Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who boasted a proud record of 15 wins in 16 matches in the doubles matches at the Davis Cup before today, trailed 1-4 after going down a break down but they broke back and managed to draw level to 4-4 after France failed to convert three break point chances. The first set came down to the tie-break where Czech Republic rallied from 2-4 down by winning five points in a row to take the first set with 7-4.
Berdych and Stepanek missed seven break point chances between the second and the fourth games in the second set. On the contrary Tsonga and Gasquet converted the only break point chance in the fifth game to draw level on sets with a 6-4 win in the second set.
France got a double break to go up 3-0. The home team was looking to cruise to a easy win in the third set but Czech Republic broke back twice in the fourth game and then in the eighth game to love at 3-4. Czech Republic took the 4-2 lead but France raised the game winning four points in a row for 6-4. The Czech team saved the first set point but Gasquet secure the decisive point with a spectacular backhand pass down the line to seal the win in the tie-break. France broke in the fourth game of the fourth set before saving a break-back point chance to secure an emphatic with with 6-1
France returns to the Davis Cup Final four years after losing 2-3 against Serbia in Belgrade in 2010. It will the 19th final in the history for France with nine wins and nine defeats in the previous final appearances. Their last triumph dates back to 2001 when the French team beat Australian in Melbourne.
If Swiss beats Italy, the final is expected to be held on French soil in Lille at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium indoors on the 21st-23rd November weekend.
