Federer loses, Switzerland draws with France in Davis Cup

The world number two lost in three straight sets in his singles match against Gael Monfils, in the prestigious team tournament yesterday, November 21.

The match ended with a score of 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in favor of the home player. The match attracted 27,432 spectators - a record number at the David Cup on the indoor clay court.

Earlier, Stan Wawrinka won 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In this opening match, Wawrinka won 25 points at the net and ended the match with a volley on the first match-point.

Monfils.

Today, November 22, there will be a doubles match between Julien Benneteau - Richard Gasquet of the home team and Marco Chiudinelli - Michael Lammer of the away team. The singles will continue one day later.

France have not won the Davis Cup since 2001, while Switzerland have never won the team tournament.

In the second match, with his health still unstable - the reason he had to withdraw from the ATP World Tour Finals, Federer did not play up to expectations. The first set lasted only 31 minutes.

After a bit of a tug-of-war in the second set, Monfils continued to dominate in the third. A break in the fifth game opened up a clear opportunity for the home player. When he had a match point, Monfils did not miss, with an accurate backhand.

This was Monfils' first win over Federer on clay.

Historically France have won 10 of their 12 Davis Cup meetings with Switzerland.

According to VNE