France will take a 2-1 lead into day three of the Davis Cup final following their doubles success over Belgium on Saturday.
France close in on Davis Cup glory
The two teams went into Saturday's action at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy level at 1-1 after Belgium's David Goffin and France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won their respective singles matches on Friday.
However, it was the hosts who moved to within one win of overall glory as doubles pair Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert secured a 6-1 3-6 7-6 6-4 victory over Belgian counterparts Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore in the only rubber of the day.
The doubles success was also vindication for France captain Yannick Noah who made the controversial decision to drop regular doubles players Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in favour of Gasquet and Herbert on Thursday.
"It was a difficult decision because a lot of people did not have the same vision and even people within the group did not have the same vision," Noah said. "Personally, it's good for me that they won because otherwise I would have been on a hot seat."
France can now seal their 10th Davis Cup title - and first since 2001 - if Tsonga beats Goffin in Sunday's opening rubber although if he fails to secure that win, the tournament will go down to a decisive showdown between Lucas Pouille and Steve Darcis.
tagged in Davis Cup Richard Gasquet single
