By ,
Published January 08, 2015
Nancy, France (SportsNetwork.com) - France's comeback hopes against Germany are still alive in the Davis Cup quarterfinals after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga earned a straight-set win over Tobias Kamke in the first reverse singles rubber on Sunday.
Tsonga was a surprise loser to Peter Gojowczyk in the second opening singles match on Friday, sending France to an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five tie.
Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau kept the French alive Saturday with a doubles win over Kamke and Andre Begemann, and Tsonga carried that momentum into Sunday's first match with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 rout of Kamke to make it 2-2.
Benneteau was originally slated to play the decisive fifth rubber for the hosts, but rookie captain Arnaud Clement has instead opted for Gael Monfils against Gojowczyk.
Tsonga simply dominated on Sunday, ripping 10 aces and 11 service winners among his 45 total winners. Kamke had no aces, failed to convert any of his three break-point opportunities and managed only 19 total winners.
Germany is competing this weekend without any of its top six players, including the absences of Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer and Tommy Haas. Their top performer this week is Kamke, ranked 96th in the world.
The French are 7-2 all-time versus the Germans, including a win in their last meeting in a quarterfinal in Stuttgart in 2011. They first met in 1913, with Germany winning that one in Wiesbaden.
This weekend's winner in Nancy will meet the Czech Republic in a semifinal in September. The Czechs rolled to a 5-0 sweep of Japan this weekend.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/tsonga-keeps-france-alive-in-davis-cup-against-germany