Novi Sad, Serbia (SportsNetwork.com) - Men's all-time Grand Slam king Roger Federer and Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka notched opening singles wins Friday to give visiting Switzerland a commanding 2-0 lead over host Serbia in an opening-round Davis Cup matchup.
The eighth-ranked former world No. 1 great Federer got the Swiss going with an easy 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Ilija Bozoljac in 1 hour, 42 minutes, and the world No. 3 Wawrinka completed the Day 1 sweep for the visitors with a hard- fought 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) victory over a game Dusan Lajovic in 2 hours, 38 minutes on the indoor hardcourt at Spens Sport Centre.
Unfortunately for the hosts, former No. 1 star Novak Djokovic made himself unavailable for Serbia this week, while the 32-year-old Federer, playing in an opening-round Davis Cup tie for the first time since 2005, made a last-minute decision to play for the Swiss in Novi Sad.
Saturday's doubles currently call for a Swiss pairing of Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer to take on a Serbian duo of Filip Krajinovic and Nenad Zimonjic, while Sunday's reverse singles tentatively pit Federer against Lajovic and Wawrinka versus Bozoljac.
The Swiss are captained by Severin Luthi, while the host Serbs, who lost to the Czech Republic in last year's Davis Cup final, are led by Bogdan Obradovic.
Switzerland, led by Federer, topped Serbia 4-1 in a World Group playoff in Geneva back in 2006.
This week's winner will meet the Belgium-Kazakhstan victor in the quarterfinals in April.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.