Switzerland cruise to 5-0 Davis Cup win over Belarus

Lorenzo Manta's win over Vassili Kajera completed Switzerland's dominance of Belarus at the Davis Cup in Saint Gallen Keystone

Switzerland have completed a 5-0 victory over Belarus after winning both of Sunday's reverse singles in their Davis Cup world group qualifying tie in St Gallen.

In Sunday’s play, Michel Kratochvil beat Alexander Shvets 6-0 6-0, and Lorenzo Manta beat Vassili Kachera 7-6 (7-0) 6-1.

The singles wins followed Saturday’s doubles in which Roger Federer and Lorenzo Manta paired up to beat Wimbledon semi-finalist, Vladimir Voltchkov, and his compatriot, Max Mirnyi, 2-6, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6. That victory was particularly sweet as it gave Switzerland an unassailable 3-0 lead going into Sunday’s final two singles matches.

“We essentially won all the important points, both on Saturday and on Friday,” said the Swiss team coach, Jakob Hlasek. “Mentally, my players clearly had the upper hand.”

In the singles, played on Friday, Federer beat Voltchkov 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-2, and Switzerland’s George Bastl beat Mirnyi 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-2, to secure the first two points of the tie.

Had the Swiss lost in the doubles match, they would have moved down to the Euro/African zonal group, the Davis Cup’s second-rate division. After their narrow defeat against Australia, the Swiss needed the victory to stave off relegation.

swissinfo with agencies