Richard defeated Florian Mayer 4-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-3 to give France a 1-0 lead in the DC-tie against Germany.
Richard scored the first break to go up 4-2 in the first set, but he was rebroken immediately and at 4 all, Mayer took the decisive advantage. A similar pattern evoloved in the second set, 6-4 for Mayer.Worse was to come: Again, Richard could not hold his advantage break and conceded a break on his own with a double fault, to allow Mayer to serve for the match, But the German wavered, lost his serve and Richard went ahead 6-5. Mayer was clearly frustrated about the missed chances and Richard benefitted from that to close out the set 7-5.
In the forth set, Mayer was hampered by cramps and Richard took control. While Mayer looked stronger again in the final set, Richard broke the German twice in this set to seel victory in about four hours.
Source:
Germany-France
