LILLE, France (Reuters) - Even though they had started the Davis Cup final confident of victory, the defeated France team were forced to concede on Sunday that a Roger Federer-inspired Swiss outfit had simply been too strong for them.
Following the 3-1 defeat, which Federer sealed on Sunday by demolishing Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-2 6-2, the home team were offering no excuses about having to play without their injured number one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who missed Saturday's doubles and Sunday's reverse singles because of an arm problem.