Guides Switzerland to maiden title by pounding Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and hand his team an unbeatable 3-1 lead
Roger Federer exults after beating Richard Gasquet to win the Davis Cup in Lille yesterday
Lille: Roger Federer gave Switzerland and himself a first Davis Cup title yesterday in Lille, pounding Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets to ensure the winning point.
Roger Federer exults after beating Richard Gasquet to win the Davis Cup in Lille yesterday. Pic/AFP
Federer romped to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win to hand the Swiss an unbeatable 3-1 lead after Stan Wawrinka had won the opening singles of the match and the world number two and four had teamed up to win the doubles on Saturday.
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It was one of the greatest sporting triumphs for Switzerland, the 14th nation to win the Davis Cup, and a huge personal milestone for Federer to go with his 17 Grand Slam titles, six Masters titles and Olympic doubles gold.
Olympic dream...
It left him with just an Olympic singles gold to win in Rio in 2016 to become just the third man, after great rival Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi, to win all four Grand Slam titles, the Olympic title and the Davis Cup.
"It's an an enormous pleasure for me, I've waited 15 years for this," Federer said. "This has been a perfect weekend in a crazy atmosphere and all the Swiss fans helped us enormously."
But he refused to accept that finally winning the Davis Cup made him the greatest player of all-time. "That's of no importance to me, what matters is that I enjoy playing tennis," he added.
Organisers promptly announced that the scheduled fifth and final rubber opposing Gael Monfils and Wawrinka had been cancelled and that the final score was Switzerland 3 France 1.
French misery
The French team looked miserable on the closing ceremony podium as they watched Federer get his hands on the Davis Cup for the first time after years of trying. "(Federer) was exceptional in every aspect of his play," French captain Arnaud Clement said. "Richard (Gasquet) tried to be aggressive but Roger was just stunning."
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