In an age when sports crowds tend to be smaller because of all-seater stadia and safety restrictions, it makes a change for an event to be boasting a record gate.

It was estimated that the attendance for the Davis Cup Final between France and Switzerland at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille would fall just short of the record set 10 years ago for an officially-sanctioned tennis match. In the event, the tantalisingly prospect of a first title in 13 years for the host country coupled with the universal appeal of Roger Federer proved too much for the fans who turned out in force on the opening day on Friday, breaking the record by 232 at 27,432.

In fact, the French organisers must have wished there was a way of utilizing even more of the space afforded them by the 50,000-capacity football stadium, home of LOSC Lille. French demand was inevitably high – tickets sold out within hours of going on sale - and the Swiss could comfortably have taken up a much larger allocation than the 3,500 seats afforded them, but of course a tennis court has its limitations due to its relatively small field of play.

It is not uncommon for Davis Cup Final crowd capacities to evolve. The capacity originally predicted for the Spain versus United States Davis Cup Final at the Estadio Olympico de Sevilla in 2004, which previously held the record, was 23,300. That was 2,278 short of the earlier record which had stood for 50 years, set at the White City in Rushcutters Bay Park, Sydney, when Australia hosted the United States and even that figure was greater than initially planned.

The Spanish organisers, also, discovered they could safely squeeze in a few more – in fact a good few more - as the capacity was raised first by 3,300 and then a further 600 who, in theatre parlance, were offered a “restricted view” through four stanchions.

The multi-purpose, twin-level Stade Pierre Mauroy, built at a cost of 282 million Euros in 2012, lends itself more readily to conversion than either the White City or the Olympic Stadium. For one thing it has a retractable roof that can be closed in the space of just 15 minutes, whereas the Spanish had to build their roof.

That and other alterations cost them 1.5 million Euros, but it was money well spent as far as the city of Seville was concerned because it benefitted them to the tune of 22.5 million Euros in extra revenue resulting from the Final.   

The White City alterations didn’t come cheap either and the cost of building the stands alone came to L50,000 – a huge amount of money in the Fifties. John Barrett, the BBC commentator, who attended the tie on his way back from playing at the US Open, remembers it well.

“The scaffolding filled in each of the corners of the White City and towered up to a terrific height – it was an amazing sight,” he said.

Had it not been for Andy Roddick’s rocket serve, the White City might have held the record for 60 years rather than 50. The 2004 Final was originally scheduled for Madrid, but fearful of the American’s new 155 mph (249.4 kph) world record serve, which, in the atmosphere of the Spanish capital, located 2,000 feet (625 metres) above sea level, might have fizzed past Rafael Nadal and company, the tie was moved to Seville. In the damp weather of the Andalusian city and on a very slow clay court, A-Rod’s serve was much more manageable.

The record for any tennis match remains the so-called “Battle of the Sexes” challenge match in 1973 between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King at the Houston Astrodome which drew a crowd of more than 30,000, but it was not officially sanctioned by the sport’s governing body. A television audience estimated at anywhere between 50 and 90 million saw King toy with the 55-year-old Riggs, beating him in three straight sets.

Riggs, a self-styled chauvinist, was carried onto court in a rickshaw pulled by scantily-dressed models. Many of Federer’s adoring fans no doubt believe that he, too, should be carried to the court like a king. After the beating he took from Gael Monfils on Friday the 17-time Grand Slam champion certainly needs a lift.