Lucas Pouille survived a come-back from Andreas Seppi to win the first singles match in five sets 6-3 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 at the Valletta Cambiaso ASD in Genoa giving defending champions France a 1-0 lead over Italy after the first match of the opening day of the Davis Cup quarter final match.
Pouille cruised through to a two-set lead and went up an early break in the third set, but Seppi clawed his way back to win the third and fourth sets forcing the match to the decider.
Seppi saved a break point in the fifth game of the opening set, but he was broken at 15 in the 10th game to lose the first set 6-4.
Pouille went up a double break in the first and third games and held his serve after saving four break points to race out to a 4-0 lead. Pouille served out for the set at 5-2 and held serve to win it 6-2.
Seppi saved a crucial break point in the fifth game of the third set and held serve to take a 3-2 lead in the third set. After being on the verge of defeat the Italian broke serve at 5-4 40-15 to seal the third set.
Seppi went up a break at love in the second game of the fourth set and held his service game to open up a 3-0 lead. He served out the set at 15 to seal the fourth set 6-3 forcing the match to the decisive set.
Pouille hit a backhand return in the fourth game of the fifth set at deuce to take a 3-1 lead, after Seppi wasted three game points for 2-2. Pouille got the double break at 4-1 and held his serve at love to close out the match after 3 hours and seven minutes.
“I decided to be more aggressive and take more chances in the fifth set and I had the energy to finish off the match. It’s great to win this kind of matches. I was two sets up, he came back. That was so tough for me in the fourth set. I tried to fight as hard as possible and in the end I decided to be more aggressive and I was very happy at the finish”, said Pouille.
