Lille, France (CNN) -- Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka each faced questions heading into Switzerland's Davis Cup final in France. For Federer, how would his tender back hold up? For Wawrinka, would he recover after a tough -- and contentious -- loss to his higher-profile Swiss at the World Tour Finals in London last week? We got our answers Friday at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on a record setting day in Lille -- but for once Federer wasn't the one rewriting the history books. In front of the largest ever tennis crowd for a pro match -- at 27,432 it eclipsed the 27,200 that turned up to watch Spain beat the U.S. in a converted Seville bullring in the 2004 Davis Cup final -- Federer not only fell to Gael Monfils but couldn't put up much of a fight.
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Switzerland and France are tied after the opening day of the Davis Cup final in Lille
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Stan Wawrinka crushes Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to give Switzerland a 1-0 advantage
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But then Gael Monfils defeats a potentially ailing Roger Federer in the second singles
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More than 27,400 turned up on the day, the largest tennis crowd for a pro match
Federer's performance, coupled with @placeholder's apparent advantage in Saturday's doubles, means it's the home team who'll be happier come the end of play.
He earned the key break at 2-2 in the third in breath-taking fashion, slamming a forehand down the line and later in the game sliding into his backhand prior to sending it past @placeholder and down the line.