Switzerland lose brave Davis Cup fight
Switzerland's Davis Cup team have been knocked out of the tournament's quarter-finals by France after one of the most memorable ties in the competition's history.
Apparently heading for an early exit after losing both Friday’s opening singles rubbers, the Swiss team rallied with victory in Saturday’s doubles. Then on Sunday, Roger Federer beat world number 10 Arnaud Clément to level the tie at 2-2.
The deciding singles match between Swiss number four George Bastl and France’s Nicolas Escudé went to a gruelling five sets. Four-and-a-half hours into the match, Bastl lost a crucial match point against his opponent, allowing the young Frenchman to make the final breakthrough.
Escudé served succesfully to win the match 1-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 8-6. With his victory, France wrapped up a 3-2 win and ended Swiss hopes of completing what would have been the greatest comeback in the country’s Davis Cup history.
For Bastl the outcome was nothing short of a “nightmare”. “It’s hard for me to understand what happened,” he told reporters.
But Swiss Davis Cup captain Jakob Hlasek was philosophical. “I have nothing to reproach my team with,” he said.
Bastl’s harsh defeat came at the end of a titanic struggle between the two sides, with the five matches together totalling more than 21 hours of play.
With no fewer than 23 sets and 175 games contested (France winning just three more than Switzerland), the encounter was later declared to have been the longest Davis Cup tie since the introduction of tie-breaks 12 years ago.
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