London:
17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer beat Italy’s Fabio Fognini in straight sets in Geneva to help his country Switzerland reach the Davis Cup final.
Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka had won their singles matches on Friday, before Italy won Saturday’s doubles encounter. But Federer’s 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) success over the Italian number one meant the Swiss took an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Switzerland will now meet France, who clinched their semi-final against the Czech Republic on Saturday, in the final, The BBC reported.
Italy’s Andreas Seppi beat Federer’s teammate Michael Lammer 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the final dead rubber, giving the Swiss a 3-2 victory.
Switzerland have never won the Davis Cup, but were losing finalists in 1992, while France are nine-time winners, most recently in 2001, and seven-time runners-up, most recently in 2010.
Federer, who was carried on the shoulders of his delighted teammates on a lap of honour around the Palexpo arena, said that it is nice sharing the emotions with the fans and team members.
The Swiss ace said that it was a pretty quick court, so if one is not serving so well there are always going to be errors, adding that it wasn’t the best performance for either of them.
Federer said that some of the best match-ups he has had have been against France, but added that the Swiss are very pleased to be in the final.
With France leading 3-0 after the doubles at Roland Garros, the Czechs pulled a point back when Jiri Vesely beat Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-3 in the first match of the reverse singles, which were contested over three sets.
