Monday 24 November 2014 11:53, UK
A Roger Federer masterclass helped Switzerland clinch their first Davis Cup title as the 17-time grand slam champion defeated Richard Gasquet to hand them an unassailable 3-1 lead over hosts France.
The 6-4 6-2 6-2 win helped the 33-year-old Federer secured the historic decisive point and land the last big prize in tennis missing from his collection to rapturous applause by both sets of supporters in front of another world record crowd of 27,488 on the indoor claycourt in Lille.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was initially set to face the Swiss star but was sidelined with an elbow injury meaning Gasguet took his spot for France.
But he was unable to cope with an inspired Federer, who looked a back to his very best following a back injury which crippled him at the ATP World Tour finals in London last weekend.
And after Friday's singles rubber mauling to Gael Monfils, there were question-marks over the state of his fitness, but he put that to bed as he helped Stan Wawrinka sweep aside Julien Benneteau and Gasquet in the doubles on Saturday before romping past world No 26 Gasquet.
Federer slumped to his knees after a drop shot sealed the deal.
It was one of the greatest sporting triumphs for Switzerland and a huge personal milestone for Federer to go with his 17 major titles, six Masters titles and Olympic doubles gold.
It left him with just an Olympic singles gold to win in Rio in 2016 to become just the third man, after great rival Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi, to win all four Grand Slam titles, the Olympic title and the Davis Cup.
I'm happy I was able to stay calm and play a good match when I had to and clearly I am very happy for all the guys on the team.
"We fought hard for it, I have been playing this game for 15 years now and have never come as close as this past weekend," Federer told the Davis Cup's official website.
"I'm happy I was able to stay calm and play a good match when I had to and clearly I am very happy for all the guys on the team, they worked very hard to get me match-ready and Stan has put in so much effort over the years, has had an unbelievable weekend and that's what gave me the opportunity today.
"I appreciate that and this one is for the boys."
But he refused to accept that finally winning the Davis Cup made him the greatest player of all-time. "That's of no importance to me, what matters is that I enjoy playing tennis," he added.
Federer stretched his head-to-head record against Gasquet to 13-2 and the Frenchman has now lost his last five matches in straight sets against the world No 2.
The scheduled fifth match between Wawrinka and Monfils was cancelled.
