By Chris Oddo | Sunday, April 6, 2014

 

Roger Federer capped off Switzerland's 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan on Sunday, sending his nation to the Davis Cup semis for the first time since 2003.

Photo Source: Reuters

Roger Federer played the first live fifth rubber of his Davis Cup career on Sunday, and the result was a command performance that sent the Swiss through to the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time in 11 years.

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Federer's 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan capped off the weekend on a jubilant note for the packed house at the Palexpo in Geneva, but Switzerland's 3-2 victory was fraught with suspense throughout, as Kazakhstan played inspired tennis and nearly pulled what would have been one of the biggest upsets in Davis Cup history.

But Stan Wawrinka, who appeared to be buckling under the pressure and expectations early on Sunday, rebounded to take down Mikhail Kukushkin in four sets, setting the table for the Swiss maestro to put the finishing touches on the victory.

The Swiss found themselves in a bind after Federer and Wawrinka dropped Saturday's doubles point to Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, needing both reverse singles victories on Sunday to avoid the upset. Wawrinka was clearly having difficulty owning the moment, as the 2014 Australian Open champion appeared to be overhwelmed by the magnitude of this week's crucial tie on home soil.

Yesterday, Kazakhstan's captain Dias Doskarayev made clear that his strategy for the doubles was to attack Wawrinka at all opportunities. It was a plan that worked in doubles, but in today's reverse singles Wawrinka found his footing after a slippery start to ease past Kukushkin and hand the Swiss fate over to Federer.

While Wawrinka was wobbly, Federer was a pillar of calm on Sunday. He found himself in a battle with the talented Golubev, but played a flawless tiebreaker to snatch the opening set. From there the wind was at Federer's back. He broke twice in the second set and twice again in the third, and after he served the tie out he headed straight over to Swiss Captain Severin Luthi for a heartfelt exchange before shaking hands with Golubev.

Switzerland, which has never won the Davis Cup, will look forward to playing in front of their home crowd again in September, as they will face Italy in the semifinals at the location and on the surface of their choice.

Italy went into Sunday's tie with their backs against the wall as well, but Fabio Fognini upset Andy Murray and Andreas Seppi finished off James Ward to put the Italians in the last four of Davis Cup for the first time since 1998.

In other action, France pulled the eighth comeback from 0-2 down in Davis Cup World Group history by taking both reverse singles rubbers in Nancy against the Germans. Gael Monfils played the hero for France, as he raced past Peter Gojowczyk in a dominant performance to seal the French victory.

The French will host the Czech Republic in the semifinals.