The only question remaining in the aftermath of Switzerland's 2014 Davis Cup championship victory over France pertains to who cried more afterward, Roger Federer or French captain Arnaud Clement?
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A gimpy Federer, still playing on a tender back that forced him out of last week's ATP World Tour Finals championship against Novak Djokovic, routed France's Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the first reverse singles match to clinch a 3-1 victory for the Swiss' first-ever Davis Cup title.
After saluting the crowd with tears in his eyes, Federer told the on-court interviewer that this win wasn't for him, according to Tennis.si.com. "I've won enough in my career. I didn't need to check any empty boxes. This is for the boys."
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"Everybody worked incredibly hard to get me match ready and Stan (teammate Wawrinka) has put in so much effort over the years and played an unbelievable weekend," Federer added, according to atpworldtour.com. "That's what gave me the opportunity today. I'm very much aware of that.
"I'm unbelievably happy. It's an amazing feeling to be celebrating with my friends. It was just a great match, great atmosphere, a beautiful weekend for tennis... I'm happy I was able to stay calm and play a good match when I had to and I'm happy for all the guys on the team."
Clement, however, was left to deal with a couple of questionable decisions, according to tennis.si.com. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hurt his forearm before the final but still went on to play Wawrinka in the opening singles matches and lost.
Then, Clement substituted Gasquet for Tsonga in doubles, and had a poor effort, according to tennis.si.com. Then he left in Gasquet, who entered Sunday match against Federer with a 2-12 lifetime record against the Swiss star.
Gasquet was a top-10 player in 2013 but fell to No. 26 in 2014. Tennis.si.com reported that Gilles Simon, who reached the Shanghai Masters final last month, was another option of Clement, as was Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Roger-Vasselin partnered with Julien Benneteau to win the French Open doubles.
Clement, however, didn't question his moves.
"Right now I think we did everything right, me and the players. But Switzerland were better than us," he said, according to Reuters.
Do you think it mattered whom the French would have used against Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in the Davis Cup final? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN?
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