Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/441551
16 ITFWORLD WINTER 2014 REACHING NEW HEIGHTS DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS Switzerland was on top of the world in November, beating France to become just the 14th nation to win Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. The mountainous nation made history in a record-breaking three days in Lille. Kevin Mitchell was there to see it happen. R oger Federer has not picked up many scars in his 16 years as a tennis professional, but he will always be proud of the one that arrived within a second of his winning shot to complete Switzerland's historic Davis Cup victory over France in Lille. Moments after his delicately sliced backhand volley dropped and turned teasingly over the net to complete an emphatic win over Richard Gasquet, who was rooted helplessly on the baseline, Federer fell to the clay with surprising lack of elegance and much relief — and paid for it with a scuffed left elbow. It was the fourth and final rubber, Switzerland winning 3-1, so the fifth match, between Gael Monfils and Stan Wawrinka, was not needed. One week later, Federer made one of his occasional visits to his Twitter account to show his 2.5 million followers the lingering scab: "I got this after match point, falling on the clay." The tongue-in- cheek hashtag #victorywound told the story: Federer had played his part. He had done his bit. He was not just a great player for himself, but for his tiny country, and, with the help of Wawrinka, he had ensured Switzerland were Davis Cup champions at last, after 85 attempts. It was touching to witness Federer take such pleasure in the achievement of others, because tennis can be a lonely and inward-looking enterprise. While the leading players generally rub along together, playing so often against each other, invariably in the second week of Grand Slams, does not allow for much closeness. They are — as Andy Murray described his relationship with Novak Djokovic, "professional friends". Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka's doubles win was the turning point of the Davis Cup Final