Roger Federer sealed Switzerland’s place in the Davis Cup semifinals when he completed a comeback win over Kazakhstan here on Sunday but Britain’s last-four hopes were trampled into Italian clay in Naples.
France is also in the last four despite losing the opening two singles matches against a weakened Germany line-up.
Jo Wilfried-Tsonga earned France a 3-2 victory in Nancy, winning the decisive singles rubber against Tobias Kamke to set up a semifinal against holder Czech Republic, which who breezed past Japan in Tokyo.
Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka, who struggled badly for most of the tie, finally found some form to beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 6-4 to level the tie at 2-2 on Sunday before Federer swept past Andrey Golubev 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-3 in front of a partisan crowd.
Italy’s comeback win Britain began on Sunday with a 2-1 lead against Italy, needing just one of Sunday’s two singles to reach the last four.
However, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray proved no match for a fired-up Fabio Fognini who won 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 before Andreas Seppi overcame some early nerves to outclass James Ward 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Semifinal line-up: Czech Republic vs. France; Switzerland vs. Italy
The results:
World Group quarterfinals: In Naples:Italy 3 bt Great Britain 2 [Fabio Fognini bt Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; Andreas Seppi bt James Ward 6-4, 6-3, 6-4].
In Nancy: France 3 bt Germany 2 [Gael Monfils bt Peter Gojowczyk 6-1, 7-6(0), 6-2; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Tobias Kamke 6-3, 6-2, 6-4].
In Geneva:Switzerland 3 bt Kazakhstan 2 [Stanislas Wawrinka bt Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Roger Federer by Andrey Golubev 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-3)].
In Tokyo: Japan 0 lost to Czech Republic 5 [Yasutaka Uchiyama lost to Lukas Rosol 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Taro Daniel lost to Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-4].
