GENEVA: Italy kept alive their hopes of reaching the Davis Cup final on Saturday with doubles duo Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli winning a five-set doubles rubber against Swiss pair Stanislas Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli.

Trailing 2-0 after Roger Federer and Wawrinka both won Friday’s singles matches, Fognini and Bolelli had no margin for error but produced a battling display in front of a sea of Swiss fans in the Palexpo Arena to win 7-5, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Italy, seeking to reach the final for the first time since 1998, still have it all to do with the tempermental Fognini needing to beat 17-times Grand Slam champion Federer in Sunday’s opening reverse singles.

The winner plays France or two-time defending champion Czech Republic in the final on Nov 21-23.

The Swiss decided to rest Federer and paired Wawrinka with Chiudinelli instead.

Federer, who played in the US Open semi-finals last weekend, won his team’s first point on Friday by beating Bolelli in straight sets.

Watched by Federer on the sidelines, the Swiss pair seemed in control of the match until losing serve to trail 4-2 in the fourth set.

The Italians broke Chiudinelli’s serve for a 2-1 lead in the decider and held off Swiss pressure to hold in the next game. On Fognini’s serve, Italy took its third match-point chance when Bolelli put away an overhead at the net.

The 3-hour, 57-minute five-setter was nothing unusual for the Wawrinka-Chiudinelli pairing on this court.

They were involved in the longest doubles match in Davis Cup history at Palexpo in February 2013.

Then, the Swiss lost 24-22 in the deciding set after a 7-hour, 1-minute marathon against Czech pair Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol.

Switzerland have never won the Davis Cup and reached their only final 22 years ago, losing to a United States team of Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.—Agencies

Thailand seize 3-0 lead over Pakistan

KARACHI: Formidable Thailand captured an inaccessible 3-0 lead over Pakistan by winning the doubles in the Asia Oceania zone group two Davis Cup final at the National Tennis Development Centre, on Saturday.

According to results made available here, the pair of Thai brothers — Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana — routed Pakistan’s duo of Aqeel Khan and Aisam-ul-Haq straight 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 to ensure a place in world group play group off in 2015.

The reverse singles will be played on Sunday.

Results:

Thailand 3 Pakistan 0

Singles: Pruchya Isaraw bt Aisam-ul-Haq 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2; Danai Udomchoke bt Samir Iftikhar 6-0, 6-4, 6-1.

Doubles: Sanchai Ratiwatana/Sonchat Ratiwatana bt Aqeel Khan/Aisam-ul-Haq 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

Published in Dawn, September 14th , 2014