Federer bags second Davis cup point for Swiss

Roger Federer blows a kiss to the crowd after beating France's Arnaud Clément on Sunday Keystone

Switzerland has pulled off an amazing feat levelling two points all with their Davis Cup opponents, France. Swiss number one, Roger Federer, has beaten French Arnaud Clément in the third singles rubber.

From the outset, Roger Federer, the underdog in this counter, made it clear he was going to fight to get Switzerland’s second Davis Cup point.

Clément is four years older than Federer, and at 13th in the world, is ranked higher than the Swiss men’s number one.

But the first set was tight, with each player looking for a gap to move ahead of the other. The gap came first for Federer in the fifth game when he broke Clément’s serve. The game proved decisive as Federer held his service game, capitalising on his lead to again break Clément’s serve in the seventh game, leaving the score of the first set at 5-2.

There were some tense moments but Federer seemed very much in control of his game, placing shots strategically down the side and baselines. The Federer express won the first set 6-4 on an ace.

The second set could not have got off to a worse start for Federer when Clément seemed to outsmart him, breaking his serve to take the first three games. Clément prevented Federer breaking his serve and won the second set 6-3.

The third set ran neck in neck with each player refusing to drop their serves. While tensions ran high, the players never lost their concentration. The third set, levelled at 6 games all, had to be decided by a tie-break, which Federer won 7-5 coming back from 2-5 down.

In the fourth and deciding set, Federer consistently pushed Clement to the limit. The long rallies which characterised the set, saw each player wait for the other to make a mistake.

But when Federer broke Clément’s serve in the ninth game to lead 5-4, there was no looking back and he won the set 6-4 to take the match.

by Samantha Tonkin