France down Switzerland, Chile beat Sweden and Netherlands defeat Finland in Davis Cup group openers

French duo Adrian Mannarino and Ugo Humbert gave their country a winning start in their Group B match against Switzerland, as France won 3-0 in the Davis Cup.

The match was played in front of a sparse crowd in Manchester, as Mannarino secured a 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory over Dominic Stricker.

Stricker had needed just 37 minutes to win the first set, but clever play from Mannarino was able to negate his 21-year-old opponent’s power.

“He’s a really dangerous player,” Mannarino said afterwards. “He has heavy strokes. Good serve. I was just trying my best to make him work as much as I could. I know if I could make it the distance with him I would probably get on top.”

“I was just trying to be consistent. In the beginning he was just playing too well, but then I was able to return a little bit more, make him work a little bit more and then, you know, this is when the turnover came.”

Then it was Humbert’s turn, as he defeated veteran Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-4.

Wawrinka then returned alongside Marc-Andrea Huesler to take on a doubles team of Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, with the French pair winning 6-2 6-2.

Wawrinka was back in Davis Cup action after ending an eight-year absence in February, and was unable to level the tie.

Humbert took a commanding lead at 6-4 5-1, and despite a brief comeback from Wawrinka, the Frenchman closed it out.

In the doubles, then Roger-Vasselin enjoyed a great Davis Cup debut as he secured doubles victory as Wawrinka suffered again.

“Great day for me, great day for the team, for the players in singles – they did a great job,” said Roger-Vasselin. “I played a great match with Nicolas. I’m happy, the team’s happy, everybody’s happy.”

Captain Sebastian Grosjean, looked ahead to their match with Australia on Thursday, saying: “Of course [today] gives us a lot of confidence.

“It’s the best way to start the competition. We have a day to prepare for Australia – we’re going to watch the matches tomorrow – and then give 100% on Thursday.”

Chile top Group A after their first match of the group, beating Sweden in Bologna, Italy.

Cristian Garin defeated Leo Borg 7-6(8-6) 3-6 7-5, before Nicolas Jarry defeated Elias Ymer 6-2 6-4.

In the doubles, Marcelo Tomas Barrios and Alejandro Tabilo secured a 6-4 7-5 win over Filip Bergevi and Andre Goransson.

Finland took on the Netherlands in Split, Croatia, and took victory in the first Group D match as Otto Virtanen beat Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(7-0) 6-4.

Tallon Griekspoor then levelled things as he defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6(9-7) 6-3, and doubles team Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop beat Harri Heliovaara and Patrick Niklas-Salminen 6-4 6-7(5-7) 6-3.