France moved within one victory of a 10th Davis Cup title by winning the doubles against Belgium on Saturday in Lille.
Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert beat Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 to give the hosts a 2-1 lead in the final ahead of Sunday's reverse singles matches.
The French pair, playing competitively together for the first time, were down a break in the third set when Gasquet lost his serve, but Bemelmans was unable to serve out the set and the hosts dug in and took the tie-break.
France made their decisive move in the seventh game of the fourth set on the Bemelmans serve, and Herbert would eventually serve out the match.
If Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeats David Goffin in the first singles match on Sunday then France will win the Davis Cup for the first time since 2001 with a match to spare.
Tsogna, though, is the marginal 11/10 outsider with Sky Bet to beat 8/11 favourite Goffin but France's Lucas Pouille is 1/3 to defeat 5/2 shot Steve Darcis in a potential deciding rubber.
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