By ,
Published January 08, 2015
Lille, France (SportsNetwork.com) - The great Roger Federer added to his legacy by raising Switzerland to its first-ever Davis Cup title on Sunday when he whipped France's Richard Gasquet in straight sets.
Federer defeated Gasquet in 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 fashion to give the visiting Swiss an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie on an indoor red clay surface at Lille's Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
The final scheduled match of the weekend between Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils was abandoned on Sunday.
The 17-time Grand Slam king Federer has now captured every coveted title in men's tennis, with the exception of an Olympic gold medal in singles. He paired with Wawrinka to win a gold medal in doubles at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
"It's not for me, I've won enough in my career and did not need to tick any empty boxes," Federer said. "I'm just happy for everybody else. I'm happy we could live a great tennis historic moment in our country."
Federer pulled out of last week's championship match at the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals in London because of a back injury, which appeared to slow him here on Friday, but not Sunday in Lille, where he would not be denied.
The 33-year-old superstar was ultra clean on Day 3, striking seven aces, without committing a double fault, and breaking Gasquet five times, while not getting broken in the rout. The iconic Swiss struck 28 more winners in the 1- hour, 52-minute match (62-34), which ended with a backhand drop shot winner.
"I'm happy I was able to stay calm and play a good match, and I'm really happy for the guys in the team, everybody worked incredibly hard to get me match ready," Federer said. "Stan has put in so much effort over the years and played an unbelievable weekend that gave me the opportunity today. I'm very much aware of that, this one is for the boys."
Federer improved to 38-9 in his career Davis Cup singles affairs.
Switzerland headed into Sunday's reverse singles with a 2-1 lead against the host French after Federer and Wawrinka teamed up for a straight-set doubles victory over Gasquet and Julien Benneteau on Saturday.
The capable Gasquet replaced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the French draw on Sunday. The former Australian Open runner-up Tsonga, bothered by an arm injury, lost to this year's Aussie champion Wawrinka in four sets in Friday's opening singles rubber, while Day 1's other match saw Monfils thrash the former world No. 1 and currently second-ranked Federer in straights.
The Davis Cup, which was first contested in 1900, has been captured by France on nine occasions, while the Swiss were seeking that elusive maiden championship and became the 14th nation to do so. Switzerland finished as a runner-up back in 1992.
The Swiss were captained by Severin Luthi, while the French were guided by former Aussie Open runner-up Arnaud Clement.
Switzerland is now 3-10 all-time versus France in Davis Cup play. The two nations last met in a 2004 quarterfinal, which was won by the French.
France was seeking its first title in 13 years.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/federer-lifts-switzerland-to-davis-cup-title