Federer, Wawrinka pounce on Italy for 2-0 Swiss lead

Geneva, Switzerland (SportsNetwork.com) - Former world No. 1 great Roger Federer and Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka combined to pull host Switzerland within one match victory of reaching the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1992.

The Wimbledon runner-up Federer got the Swiss off and running against visiting Italy with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 victory over 76th-ranked Simone Bolelli in 2 hours, 19 minutes, and then the world No. 4 Wawrinka out-aced 17th-ranked Fabio Fognini 16-0 while steam-rolling his Italian counterpart 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in 90 minutes to make it 2-0 in the best-of-five semifinal at Palexpo.

"I just stayed with him really," Federer said after holding off Bolelli. "I served well myself. It ended up going to the tiebreak, which I thought was the right thing. In the tiebreak, I really think I served well throughout. The margins were small in the first set.

"In the second set I was finally able to get the break; that broke the deadlock for me a little bit. I was able to play with the lead, which is always easier. I'm just happy overall how it went. It's important to get that first point and that was the most important part."

Saturday's doubles match will pit Federer and Wawrinka against Andreas Seppi and Paolo Lorenzi, while Sunday's reverse singles call for the 17-time Grand Slam king and currently third-ranked Federer to face Fognini and Wawrinka to battle Bolelli.

Two things that are still missing from the 33-year-old Federer's brilliant resume is an Olympic singles gold medal and a Davis Cup title.

The Swiss are captained by Severin Luthi, while Italy is guided by Corrado Barazzutti.

Italy is 3-2 all-time versus Switzerland. The winner will meet the reigning two-time champion Czech Republic or France in the 2014 Davis Cup final in November.