Roger Federer gave Switzerland their first Davis Cup title in Lille on Sunday by defeating Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets in the first of the final’s reverse singles.
Federer romped home 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 final and the world No.2 and No.4 singles players had teamed up to win the doubles on Saturday.
It was one of the greatest sporting triumphs for Switzerland and a huge personal milestone for Federer to go with his 17 grand slam titles, six Masters crowns and Olympic doubles gold.
It left him with just an Olympic singles gold to win in Rio in 2016 to become only 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.
Federer had expected to play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first of Sunday’s two reverse rubbers, but the French No.1, who lost to Wawrinka in four sets on Friday, was struggling with an arm injury and forced to pull out.
In came Gasquet with the monumental task of defeating Federer and opening the door for the possibility of the in-form Gael Monfils defeating Wawrinka in the decider.
Another world-record crowd of 27,488 roared their support for Gasquet as the two players came out onto the red claycourt.
The 33-year-old Swiss superstar executed an exquisite half-volley to bring up break point in the third game and sealed that with a superb backhand down the line.
Gasquet could make no inroads on the Federer serve and was struggling manfully each time to hold his own.
Federer failed to convert two set points at 5-4 up, but another love service game did the trick in the following game.
When Federer broke serve to open the second set, heads visibly went down in the French camp, while the outnumbered Swiss supporters stood up.
The merest point earned by Gasquet on the Federer serve brought an ear-splitting reaction from the French fans and the occasional rendition of ‘La Marseillaise’.
But it was all to no avail as a calm Federer brought up three more break points and converted the second of those to pocket the second set.
Gasquet put up some desperate late fight at the start of the third set, garnering a few points on the Federer serve, but he failed to earn a break point.
The pressure on his own serve was all the more acute and a tired-looking backhand, which sailed well wide, handed Federer the final break of serve he needed.
Two games later, it was all over, Federer falling to his knees in celebration after a final perfect backhand drop shot.
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