|
 Federer, bidding to add to his substantial collection of honors
by steering the Alpine nation to a first Davis Cup triumph,
delighted a capacity crowd in the Palexpo Arena with a 7-6(5) 6-4
6-4 victory.
"Margins were small in the first set," Federer said. "In the second
set I was finally able to get the break and that broke the deadlock
for me a little bit. I was able to play with the lead which is
always easier.
"It was quite frustrating at times when the court is pretty quick.
We didn't think it was going to be this fast but when you do serve
well you really do feel the benefit."
Seventy-sixth ranked Bolelli, who was surprisingly selected for
singles duty ahead of Andreas Seppi by virtue of having fewer
previous defeats against the 17-times grand slam champion, stuck to
his task impressively on the blue indoor court.
He saved two set points in the opening tiebreak but fired a backhand
wide on Federer's third, to the relief of his 33-year-old opponent
who was far from his fluent best.
World number three Federer finally secured the first service break
of the match in the seventh game of the second set and cruised on to
the 36th singles victory of his Davis Cup career.
DOMINANT WAWRINKA
Australian Open champion Wawrinka made light work of world number 17
Fognini and despatched the Italian 6-2 6-3 6-2 in one hour 30
minutes.
After struggling to rediscover the early-season form that won him
the Australian Open title, Wawrinka has spoken of his desire to win
the Davis Cup and he showed his intent by firing 16 aces and 37
winners past Fognini.
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The fiery Swiss snatched an early break in the opening set before
racing into a 4-1 lead as Fognini had no answer to the world number
four's clean hitting.
More crisp and punchy strokes followed over the next two sets as
Wawrinka ensured Switzerland took a 2-0 lead into Saturday's
doubles. Switzerland have reached the final once, losing to the U.S.
in 1992, while Italy got there in 1998, going down to Sweden.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman and Michael Hann; editing by Ken Ferris
and Toby Davis)
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