Federer and Wawrinka
Switzerland take 2-1 lead over France in Davis Cup final. Getty

Switzerland have taken a 2-1 lead in the final of the Davis Cup after Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka defeated France's Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet in Lille.

Federer lost his opening singles match to Gael Monfils on Friday where he struggled with his recent back problem but showed no signs of the injury as the Swiss won 6-3 7-5 6-4 at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

The world number two is scheduled to take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga while his compatriot Wawrinka faces Monfils in the final two singles matches on Sunday to decide the final.

Switzerland and France started the day tied with a point each. Swiss captain Severin Luthi had initially planned to use Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer, who are ranked 212<sup>th and 508<sup>th in the world respectively, in Saturday's session but made a late change to his line up to boost their chances of winning their first Davis Cup.

"Clearly it's a big relief. The medical staff, it's a big thanks to them," Federer told BBC Sport.

I am really happy with the way we were playing today," Wawrinka added. "We were really aggressive, we knew what we had to do. I think we did a good job."