adminPARIS. — France reached the Davis Cup tennis final for the first time since 2010 on Saturday when they took an unassailable 3-0 lead over two-time defending champions Czech Republic in their semi-final.In the November 21-23 final, France will tackle either Switzerland or Italy whose semi-final in Geneva saw the home side pegged back to 2-1 after the Italian team won Saturday’s doubles.
At Roland Garros, nine-time champions France clinched the winning point when Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
It was just the second loss in 17 doubles outings for the veteran Czech pair with their previous defeat coming in the 2009 final against Spain.
Gasquet and Tsonga, who had only previously played together on one occasion — in January’s first round win over Australia — had won Friday’s opening singles with Gasquet beating Berdych 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 and Tsonga seeing off Lukas Rosol 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
However, their efforts on Saturday were aided by a hip injury to Stepanek while an out-of-sorts Berdych was clearly unsettled by the patriotic fervour inside Roland Garros, the home of the French Open. — AFP.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter