• Davis Cup

France in control against Germany

Gael Monfils jumps for joy during his win over Philipp Kohlschreiber © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: France beat Germany to progress
  
• News: Lithuania v Great Britain
  

France made an excellent start to their Davis Cup clash with Germany, as victories for Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga handed them a 2-0 advantage after the first day's singles.

The Palais des Sports crowd were treated to some sparkling singles play, with Monfils making the ideal start with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Monfils raced out of the blocks and two breaks of serve handed him the opening set. Kohlschreiber secured an early foothold in the second set with a break of serve but could not sustain the effort and Monfils roared back to secure himself the second set.

The third set went to a tie-break and Monfils upped his level at the vital time with some glorious play from the back of the court.

Tsonga produced a display that will likely leave his coach tearing his hair out, as he needed four sets to overcome Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3.

For two sets, Tsonga produced play of the highest order but Becker gained a foothold in the match in the third set which he secured in a tie-break. The shock of losing a set sparked Tsonga into life and he raced through the third to hand France a 2-0 lead.

Defending champions Spain are locked together at 1-1 following a pulsating first day against Switzerland. With no Rafael Nadal, Spain relied on Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer and the former was outfought in five sets by Stanislas Wawrinka.

However, Ferrer thrilled the home fans with a 6-2 7-6(5) 6-1 win over Marco Chiduinelli to leave the tie well poised.

USA are firmly on the back foot in their tie with Serbia, as four-set wins for Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic over John Isner and Sam Querrey respectively handed Serbia 2-0 lead.

Russia are firmly in command with their Davis Cup tie with India after taking a 2-0 lead from the first day.

Igor Kunitsyn was drafted in as a replacement for the injured Nikolay Davydenko and he recovered from the setback of losing the first set to Somdeev Devarrman to claim a 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 6-3 6-4 win.

Mikhail Youzhny is the Russian No. 1 in the absence of Davyddenko and he had a comfortable 6-4 6-2 6-3 win over Rohan Bohanna to leave Russia one win away from victory.

Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek were too strong for Olivier Rochus and Xavier Malisse respectively as Czech Republic took a 2-0 lead over Belgium.

Leonardo Mayer beat Joachim Johansson to cancel out Robin Soderling's win to leave Argentina and Sweden locked together, while Croatia lead Ecuador 2-0 thanks to wins for Ivo Karlovic and Marin Cilic.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.