Setting their sights on a first Davis Cup win since 2001, the French players are finding extra motivation in the daunting task awaiting them.

France earned its place in the final by ending the two-year dominance of Czech Republic in the team competition with a 4-1 win over the defending champions on clay at Roland Garros. They now need to overcome Roger Federer's Switzerland.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion put his country back in the final for the first time in 22 years by beating Fabio Fognini of Italy in the opening reverse singles Sunday for a winning 3-1 lead in their semifinal. The Davis Cup is the only major trophy still missing from Federer's collection.

"Federer is a monument of tennis, this is a dream final," said Richard Gasquet, France's standout player of the weekend.

Gael Monfils wrapped up victory for France with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Lukas Rosol on Sunday after Jiri Vesely salvaged some pride for the Czechs by beating Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-3 in a consolation win in the first reverse singles.

"There is no need for motivation when you are in the final, but hosting Federer adds an extra something to a sumptuous final," Benneteau said.

France booked its place in the final on Saturday when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gasquet won the doubles to give the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Monfils was initially set to play the opening singles but was replaced by Gasquet by France captain Arnaud Clement after failing to recover from jet lag following his quarterfinalist placing at the U.S. Open last week.

Clement's decision paid dividends as Gasquet put France on the right track with a straight sets victory against the sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych before Tsonga extended his team's lead to 2-0 by beating Rosol.

"Everybody speaks about a dream final against Switzerland, but for me the dream is just that France will be there," Clement said. "With Federer and Stan Wawrinka, It's obviously a big contest but the important thing is that we are in the final."

Switzerland has never won the competition and lost its only final in 1992 against the United States.

After hosting the Czechs at Roland Garros, the French are trying to finalize a deal for the tie to be staged in a bigger venue, with the northern city of Lille being touted as the likely host.

Clement said he will have lengthy discussions with his players before deciding on the surface, but Tsonga played down the importance of the decision.

"It won't have a big impact on the result," said Tsonga. "All the players that will be involved are capable of playing well on all surfaces."

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Roger Federer has taken Switzerland to its first Davis Cup final in 22 years, beating Fabio Fognini of Italy in the opening reverse singles Sunday for a winning 3-1 lead in their semifinal.

Federer celebrated with skipping jumps across the court on completing a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win against the 17th-ranked Fognini.

"It's fabulous to share in this moment," Federer said in an on-court interview after being hoisted on the shoulders of teammate Stan Wawrinka and captain Severin Luethi for a lap of honor round the court.

Their celebrations delighted a noisy 18,000-plus crowd at Palexpo indoor arena.

Switzerland will play at France in the final on Nov. 21-23. The French beat two-time defending champion Czech Republic this weekend.

Switzerland has never won the 114-year-old competition, and lost its only final in 1992 against a United States team of Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.

In Federer's only previous Davis Cup semifinal 11 years ago, he lost a decisive reverse singles match against Lleyton Hewitt in Australia.

"After the difficult defeat in 2003 we had another chance this year," Federer said.

Federer improved to 3-0 against Fognini, who again failed to win a set off the third-ranked Swiss.

The key point in the tiebreaker was Federer's forehand crosscourt return of serve for a winner to lead 5-4. He followed with an ace, and then won a rally on Fognini's serve when the Italian netted a forehand.

Federer was rarely troubled in the first set after firing an ace to save a break-point chance in his second service game.

He broke Fognini's service to lead 4-2 and clinched when the Italian was frustrated by more service trouble with double faults and a foot fault.

A rare failure of Federer's forehand saw three break-point chances slip in Fognini's opening service of the second set.

Federer forced a 5-3 lead when Fognini netted a forehand and slammed his racket to the floor.

The Italian right-hander played his best tennis yet in a dynamic rally to save Federer's first set-point chance, before failing to handle the next service.

Fognini raised his play in the third set, forcing four break-point chances which Federer saved, and punching the air when good defense won a key point on his own serve.

In a series of longer rallies, Fognini's varied play moved Federer around the court but could not create a decisive break.