By Chris Oddo | Saturday, September 13, 2014
Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli came from behind against Stand Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli to keep Italian hopes alive in Geneva.
Photo Source: AP
The Italians avoided a Swiss sweep in Geneva on Saturday, as Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli came from behind to notch a 7-5, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Stan Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli.
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“We always play good matches in Davis Cup, me and Simone,” said Fognini. “I’m happy for our performance, I’m happy for Italy, because this match was very important for us.”
Italian Captain Corrado Barazzutti had originally chosen Andreas Seppi and Paolo Lorenzi at Thursday’s draw, but he played his hunches on Saturday, inserting both Friday's singles players, who now have a 16-5 career record as a doubles team.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow,” said Barazzutti. “We are very happy for the win.”
The Swiss gave Roger Federer the day off on Saturday, and that decision looked to be a good one for the Swiss, but after taking a two sets to one lead, Bolelli and Fognini rallied to swing the momentum of the match.
After levelling things, the Italians raced to a double-break lead in the decider and closed things out in three hours and 57 minutes. The Italians saved all four break points they faced in the decider and they were not broken in the final two sets.
But team Italy still has a bit of a mountain to climb, as they must defeat both Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in Sunday’s reverse singles contest in order to advance to their first Davis Cup final since 1998.
The Swiss, who came back from 2-1 down in Geneva against Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, remain confident that they have the firepower and the poise to reach what would be their first Davis Cup final in 22 years.
“It’s always tough,” said Bolelli, “because tomorrow Federer is going to play first, but we’ll see, because in Davis Cup anything can happen.”
Federer will look to clinch the victory for Switzerland on Sunday, when he opens with Fabio Fognini in the day's first rubber. Wawrinka is scheduled to meet Bolelli in the second rubber.