It was their first title since they beat Australia away in 2001 before three defeats in the final in 2002, 2010 and 2014, while Belgium have yet to win the title, having now lost three finals after defeats in 1904 and 2015. Yannick Noah, the last Frenchman to win a grand slam title, celebrated his third title as captain after leading France to victory in 1991 and 1996. Goffin gave the visitor a 1-0 lead by beating Pouille in the opening singles match before Tsonga levelled by defeating Darcis Friday, the Nos 1 both prevailing in straight sets.? FRANCE WINS THE DAVIS CUP by BNP Paribas ?
Lucas #Pouille offers a 10th Silver Bowl to his country dominating Steve Darcis 6-3 6-1 6-0 in 5th rubber! #DavisCup #FRABEL pic.twitter.com/pu4DkgSuBM— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) November 26, 2017
France took the lead thanks to the pairing of Gasquet and Herbert, who had never played a competitive match together but beat Ruben Bemelmans and Joris de Loore in four sets. Goffin was again a notch above the rest Sunday, levelling for 2-2 against Tsonga with a 7-6 (5) 6-3 6-2 win as the world No 7 sent the tie into a decider. The final match was anti-climactic as Pouille went for the throat, racing to a 3-0 lead against Darcis, who never seemed to stand a chance on the indoor hardcourt. World No 18 Pouille, who was born 75 kms from Lille, held serve to take the first set and never looked back, claiming 12 games in a row and closing it out on the first match point when a sorry Darcis sent a shot long.Big win for France, though not a massively compelling Davis Cup final. Nearly a repeat of 2013, when every match was straight sets. pic.twitter.com/HvpvoAn3GB
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) November 26, 2017