Davis Cup: France reach final as Italy fight back against Switzerland
France reached the Davis Cup final after completing an easy win over
defending champions the Czech Republic
with victory in the doubles rubber.
Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-1 at Roland Garros.
They must wait to discover their opponents after Italy cut Switzerland's lead to 2-1 in their semi-final.
Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini beat Stan Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli 7-5 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-2 in Geneva.
A French-Swiss final? |
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France last reached the final in 2010, when they lost to Serbia |
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They could face Switzerland, who have reached the Davis Cup final once, losing to the United States in 1992 |
France had won both of Friday's opening singles matches, with Gasquet beating Berdych in straight sets and Tsonga recording a similarly comprehensive victory over Lukas Rosol.
"I'm very proud and very happy," said Gasquet. "It's great to win against the Czech Republic. We fought a lot.
"It's a big honour for us to win 3-0 and go to the final. It's a big victory for us."
Fognini and Bolelli were in the Italian team that beat Great Britain in the quarter-finals
Roger Federer, who was rested for the doubles, is likely to face world number 17 Fognini, who defeated Andy Murray in April's quarter-final against Great Britain in Naples.
Italy were on the verge of elimination at two sets to one down in the doubles rubber, but Bolelli and Fognini, who both lost in Friday's opening singles matches, engineered a spirited fightback in front of a partisan Swiss crowd.
"We played four very tough hours and we were 2-1 down," said Bolelli. "[We showed] great emotion and great heart today."
Defeat means that Wawrinka and Chiudinelli have now lost all four of the Davis Cup doubles matches they have played together.
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