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Day 1 of Davis Cup semi-finals more than routine for Switzerland and France

Stephanie Myles
Day 1 of Davis Cup semi-finals more than routine for Switzerland and France

As expected, Switzerland leads Italy 2-0 after the first day's play in their Davis Cup World Group semifinal.

Not quite as expected, France leads the two-time defending champion Czech Republic 2-0 after the first day's play in their semi-final.

Italy, riding as it is on the shoulders of perennial bad boy Fabio Fognini, wasn't expected to give the powerhouse singles duo of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka much to worry about, and it didn't.

Federer opened play before 18,000 in Geneva with a tight, but fairly straightforward 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italian No. 2 SImone Bolelli in two hours, 19 minutes. The Italian had three break points, converted none of them. Teammate Stan Wawrinka was far more efficient in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 dismantling of Italian No. 1 Fabio Fognini, needing just 90 minutes to get the job done.

Fabio Fognini was up to his usual during a Davis Cup singles match against Stan Wawrinka and Switzerland Friday. (AP Photo/ Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)
Fabio Fognini was up to his usual during a Davis Cup singles match against Stan Wawrinka and Switzerland Friday. (AP Photo/ Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)

The French are hosting the Czech Republic on famed Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros, which is almost like having a fifth player on the squad. In some nondescript indoor arena, perhaps the Czechs could pretend they were somewhere near Prague despite the presence of a large cheering section of French fans.

But on this famed court in Paris, there is no escaping reality.

That fifth man seemed to inspire Richard Gasquet, chosen to play No. 2 singles behind Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in somewhat of a surprise pick over U.S. Open quarter-finalist Gaël Monfils.

Gasquet responded magnificently; he needed just two hours to defeat a struggling Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, paving the way for Tsonga's more-expected defeat of Czech No. 2 Lukas Rosol by nearly identical scores: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

France's Richard Gasquet celebrates after defeating Tomas Berdych Friday at Roland Garros. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
France's Richard Gasquet celebrates after defeating Tomas Berdych Friday at Roland Garros. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

So both home teams won with little drama and, in the case of the French, who are playing outdoors in a stadium that doesn't have lights (hence the 10:30 a.m. start), with plenty of daylight remaining.

The key rubber now for the visiting teams, will now be Saturday's doubles. If they don't somehow find a way to win it, both are eliminated.

The lineups as they stand are Julien Benneteau and Monfils for France (that may well stand), and Radek Stepanek and youngster Jiri Vesely for the Czech Republic. But there's little doubt at this point that Czech captain Jaroslav Navratilo will substitute Berdych for Stepanek; there's no margin for error, and Berdych and Stepanek are by far the Czech's best combination.

In Geneva, there also are likely to be changes. The Swiss have Federer and Wawrinka listed as their doubles pairing. With a 2-0 lead, they have the flexibility to rest one or both before the reverse singles Sunday even if the massive crowd obviously would prefer to see those two rather than one of the two other members of the squad, Marco Chiudinelli or Michel Lammer. They may still play.

The Italians have Paolo Lorenzi and Andreas Seppi as their listed doubles team. That's likely to change; Fognini and Bolelli, the two singles players, have paired up regularly on the ATP Tour this season and have a lot more experience.

Fognini looked to be beaten basically before he even took the court Friday. It's pretty clear he has little belief that he can do anything to change the inevitable outcome this weekend.

In other early results, there are eight World Group playoff ties going on around the world this weekend. The winning countries will advance to the World Group, or stay there; the losers will be relegated to the Davis Cup minor leagues.

Lleyton Hewitt of Australia celebrates winning a point against Farrukh Dustov of Uzbekistan in their singles match during the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie. (Photo by Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images)
Lleyton Hewitt of Australia celebrates winning a point against Farrukh Dustov of Uzbekistan in their singles match during the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie. (Photo by Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images)

Australia got off to a great start in Uzbekistan down in Perth, with Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios posting straight-set wins over Farrukh Dustov and Denis Istomin, respectively. Kyrgios's effort over the similarly-ranked but far more experienced Istomin stands out. Also notable that Sam Groth was picked for the squad over Bernard Tomic.

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Croatia are tied 1-1 after Friday's play. U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who likely didn't even get out of New York until Tuesday, was not lin the singles lineup but is listed to play doubles on Saturday. Teenager Borna Coric stepped in, but lost 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-4 to Robin Haase.

Serbia is in Bangalore to play India without its best player, Novak Djokovic, who begged off because of fatigue and family issues after a disappointing U.S. Open. Djokovic had to know that Serbia would probably manage to win without him; the Serbs lead India 2-0 after the first day of play after Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic posted victories.

In other ties, the Americans host Slovakia in Chicago; Canada hosts Colombia in Halifax, N.S.; Ukraine hosts Belgium at a neutral venue in Tallinn, Estonia where reports are of just a few hundred fans in attendance; Israel hosts Argentina at another neutral venue in Sunrise, Fla. and Brazil hosts Spain (without Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco or Feliciano Lopez) in São Paulo.