Federer win in singles lifts Swiss to Davis Cup playoff win

Argentina are also yet to win a Davis Cup, having been runners-up on three occasions.

Facing an opponent ranked 434 places below him, No. 2 Federer eased to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jesse Huta Galung in the second singles rubber.

Before a raucous crowd in Glasgow, Andy Murray and his brother Jamie led Britain to a five-set victory against Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth of Australia on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in their semifinal.

The win gives Andy Murray a chance to put Britain into its first Davis Cup final since 1978 when he plays Bernard Tomic in Sunday’s first reverse singles.

Switzerland, winners previous yr, have been crushed by Belgium in the opening spherical in March when neither Federer nor Stan Wawrinka lined up for the Swiss.

In Brussels, world number 15 David Goffin kept Belgium afloat against Argentina with a routine 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Diego Schwartzman to level their semi-final at 2-2. It’s up to the captain to decide that, Murray, who took his record to 24-2 in Davis Cup singles, told daviscup.com. Middelkoop and de Bakker rebounded in the fourth set to clinch in 6-4 as well, before routing the Swiss in the fifth set 6-1 in merely 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, former world number one and 14-time Grand Slam title victor Nadal shrugged off his recent struggles to help Spain to a 2-0 lead in their Group One relegation play-off against Denmark.

The Davis Cup final is scheduled from November 27-29. Santiago Giraldo had earlier given the home side a 1-0 lead with a 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 1-6, 6-4 win over Taro Daniel. The 164th-ranked Devvarman dominated in humid conditions against 40th-ranked Vesley, the Czechs’ top player in the series due to the absence of Tomas Berdych.