Davis Cup semi-finals: Switzerland meet Italy while France face holders Czech Republic

Roger Federer's Switzerland take on Italy in the Davis Cup semi-finals in Geneva this weekend as his country bids to reach the final for the first time since 1992.

The 33-year-old came up short in his bid for an 18th grand slam title after being dismantled in straight sets by eventual US Open champion Marin Cilic.

Federer could easily have taken time out following his 6-3 6-4 6-4 defeat to the Croatian, but the seven-time Wimbledon champion showed his commitment to the Swiss team by heading back home to prepare for the tie on an indoor hard court.

We have a formidable team. We are playing at home and we chose the surface. We can do it.

"In tennis there are so many highlights thankfully, so I have something to do next Friday already again," Federer said after bowing out of Flushing Meadows. "I'll be very preoccupied with that, starting right now."

Federer has now set his sights on adding the giant trophy still missing from his collection and he may not have a better chance of achieving the dream with the Australian Open champion and good friend Stan Wawrinka lining up alongside him.

"We obviously are favorites, which is always a nice feeling to be," the third-ranked Federer said. "We have a formidable team. We are playing at home and we chose the surface. We can do it.

"So 18,000 people in Switzerland is something very special. I think people are quite excited to come see Stan and myself play, regardless of who it is against.

"Neighbouring country I think adds something special to it. I have had some memorable ties against Italians in the past. For me it was the first tie I ever played as a player in 1999 against Davide Sanguinetti."

Home advantage

Along with Federer and Wawrinka, world No 161 Marco Chiudinelli and 497th-ranked Michael Lammer complete the Swiss team, which has never lost to Italy at home, despite Italy's 3-2 advantage overall in Davis Cup.

Swiss captain Severin Luthi said the presence of both Federer and Wawrinka on home soild since the beginning of the week has helped the team prepare for this crunch clash.

"We could train together as soon as Tuesday, which was not the case in our opening two rounds," Luthi said, referring to the tight 3-2 wins over Serbia and Kazakhstan.

The Azzurri, who defeated an Andy Murray led Great Britian on the clay in Naples to reach this stage of the competition for the first time since 1998, will field Italian No 1 Fabio Fognini, 48th-ranked Andreas Seppi and world No 76 Simone Bolelli in their side and captain Corrado Barazzutti is hoping his side can pull off a shock win.

Victory would put one of these sides into a November 21-23 final against either France or two-time defending champions the Czech Republic who will contest the other semi-final in Paris.

Gasquet gets call

France captain Arnaud Clement has opted for Richard Gasquet as his second singles player for this weekend's tie at Roland Garros as Le Bleus target a first title win since 2001.

In-form Gael Monfils had played his way into contention to share the singles load with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but Clement sprung something of a surprise by choosing world No 21 Gasquet to open the tie against Tomas Berdych.

French No 1 Tsonga will play the second singles against hard-hitting Lukas Rosol who was preferred to wily veteran Radek Stepanek.

US Open quarter-finalist Monfils, who has moved above Gasquet in the world rankings, will play doubles with Julien Benneteau against Czech pair Stepanek and Jiri Vesely.

"This is the best team in the world," said Clement. "One can't win the Davis Cup twice in a row by chance. We'll be trying to put their amazing run to an end."

The Czech Republic will be aiming to extend their winning streak to 12 straight ties and also become the first nation to reach three consecutive Davis Cup finals since Australia in 1999-2001.

"It's special when you come here for a grand slam tournament and it's definitely even more special for us to play here and play for our country," the 35-year-old Stepanek said. "It's even more special to play here in the semi-finals."