Federer Unlikely for Swiss Davis Cup Opener
Switzerland can count on Stanislas Wawrinka but probably not Roger Federer when it meets the Czech Republic for the first round of the Davis Cup in Geneva next month, the Swiss tennis federation said Monday.
Swiss captain Severin Luethi picked Wawrinka (ranked 17th best player in the world), Marco Chiundinelli (148th), Henri Laaksonen (291st), Michael Lammer (360th) and Sandro Ehrat (353rd) to help the central European country win the elusive cup.
Switzerland has never won the Davis Cup, although was runner up in 1992.
Swiss tennis great Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam winner, has repeatedly in the past prioritized other championships over the Davis Cup.
He had already cautioned there was little chance of seeing him on the court during the first round of the cup in Geneva from February 1-3, so shortly after the end of the Australia Open.
The world number two, who drew fire from Wawrinka, could meanwhile still change his mind.
14 January 2013, 19:34
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The older Federer played the maximum Davis Cup ties and matches for Switzerland in 2012 and 2011 (including the first round in 2012) -- thus stretching himself too thin, leading to his loss of his No. 1 ranking at the end of last year. On the other hand, the younger Djokovic, Murray and Nadal skipped Davis Cup teams entirely last year in order to focus on their ATP Tour goals and the grand slams. Novak Djokovic has not won even a set of Davis Cup in over two years. In terms of Davis Cup matches played, Federer has a much better career record than Nadal, Djokovic and Murray at their age (up to age 26). Indeed, Federer has one of the best Davis Cup records among the greatest players in entire tennis history who have won at least five slams. At his age, Federer needs to retire from this white elephant known as the Davis Cup and focus his efforts on winning grand slams.
