Federer Damages Davis Cup

Matt Cronin

In the press room, the "Commander in Chief."

He may appear to be a worry free, laid back guy at times, but one of Roger Federer's nicknames in the press room is the "Commander in Chief," which emanates from his ultra controlling personality. Federer has become hyper involved in ATP politics and orchestrates his press conferences like a master conductor. Woe to those who ask too many questions, or more to the point, ask questions which he doesn't like.

Federer is a bright, determined guy with reasoned opinions on most subjects, but when it comes to considering others' viewpoints on his career choices, he can be dismissive and stubborn. For the past five years, he has fought the criticism that he should commit to playing Davis Cup full time and now, he'll have to face the same kind of heat.

Speaking to the Swiss media at the start of the year, Federer indicated that he doesn't want to travel to face defending champion Spain on clay March 5-7 for the first round of Davis Cup. Given how attractive that tie could be with Federer going up against his archrival Rafael Nadal on dirt just nine months after winning his first French Open, that decision is a kick in the gut to the International Tennis Federation, which has for years argued how important Davis Cup is not only to tennis as a whole, but to most of the players.

How important is Davis Cup really in the world tennis scheme?

But if the sport's leading player has all but dismissed the competition in favor of peaking for the Grand Slams, the Masters Series tournaments and retaining the No. 1 ranking, than just how important is the competition in overall scheme of things?

If Federer's decision holds, and it very likely will, then the tennis world will miss out on a chance to see its two best players over the past five years face off on dirt in what is sure to be an ultra intense environment. It would be their first meeting in Davis Cup, and the ITF immediately began promoting it when the draw was set. Tennis as whole needs to have more attention poured on it outside of the majors, and any time that Federer and Nadal face off, even tennis hating sports editors and TV producers know they must spend some time covering the clash.

So why would Federer not relish that chance of traveling to Spain with the very competent Stanislas Wawrinka and going up against Nadal, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez? Surely the 15-time Grand Slam champion is aware that he has two black marks on his otherwise stellar career: his 7-13 record against his primary rival, Nadal, and that's he's never led Switzerland past the Davis Cup semis. The last time Switzerland reached the final four, in 2003, Lleyton Hewitt came back from two sets down against Federer and stunned him.

The hype had already begun for a face off that won't happen.

According to a Swiss journalist who follows Federer around the world, Federer doesn't rate the chance of winning Davis Cup this year very high (and he wants to win the competition, not just reach the semis again). Plus, the journalist says, he fears for the wear and tear on his body and believe it or not, he badly wants maintain the No. 1 ranking, so he can pass Sampras' mark of the most weeks at No. 1. Sampras is at 286 and going into 2010, Federer stands at 264. He also wants to finish the year in top spot so he can register six total seasons there, which would also tie Sampras.

Then there's another factor, which Federer may or may not admit to: for the third time in five years, he was only voted the No. 2 athlete in Switzerland. In 2009, he finished behind alpine skier Didier Cuche. Those who know Federer say that he couldn't have been particularly pleased with his countrymen after that vote, and may not be feeling overly patriotic at the moment.

It's not that Federer has never played Davis Cup - he has a 37-12 record in the competition (he's 27-9 in singles), but since he started racking up Grand Slam titles in 2004, he's played all of seven ties and only two ties that weren't a World Group Play-offs, meaning that he decided to compete only after his team had lost its first round match, in order to save Switzerland the ignominy of being sent down to the lesser Zonal competitions.

Federer is 37-12 in Davis Cup, but has played only 7 ties since 2004.

Take last year, when every tennis fan in the Southern U.S. was salivating at the chance to see Federer face Andy Roddick in Louisiana, but instead, he pulled out at the last minute with a bad back, preferring to save his body for the Masters tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami. At the time, he was completely unapologetic, only admitting that he jumped the gun a little on committing to the tie. That sure didn't matter much to the fans who bought tickets to see him play.

"I had to take a tough decision as to whether I would be keep playing with a little pain or take a rest and be sure I would be able to play the next six months without a problem. I took that decision because Davis Cup was important, but I didn't say I wanted to win it this year yet, I said I would play the first round, but then after that it would be open. But then I decided if I'm not even sure I want to win the Davis Cup yet, why put myself in the position and why not take a rest? My priority is to look at the long term and to play for many more years. I guess I could have played if I knew that my career would be over after Davis Cup but that's not how I look at it. I know some people don't understand, but if they listen to me, I'm sure they will."

Did American fans want to see Federer in action against the U.S. team?

Federer of course had the choice of skipping Indian Wells if his back acted up, and the same goes with Miami, even though he would have received no ranking points for the pull out and would have put his chance at securing the year end top spot at risk.

But with all due respect to two of the crown jewels of U.S. tennis, do most serious fans care more about the Masters Series or about Davis Cup? It could easily be ventured that more U.S. fans recall that Andy Roddick was stellar in leading the US team to the Davis Cup title in 2006 in Portland, but fewer recall the last time he won Miami was in 2004.

Do Swiss fans know how many times Federer has won Indian Wells and Miami? Wouldn't most of them be more likely to tune into a clash against Nadal in early March in Spain, rather than hoping the two face off on U.S. hardcourts later in the spring?

That's a no-brainer.

Is Roger focused on two other Sampras records?

Somewhat amazingly, even though he has already broken Sampras record of 14 Grand Slam crowns, Federer appears to be getting just as much motivation for another assault on the majors as he did last year, but really, what level of satisfaction will he get out of more Slam titles, unless he bests Nadal at Roland Garros ( which is doubtful if Rafa is healthy) or avenges his US Open defeat to Juan Martin Del Potro (possible, but the young and vulnerable Argentine would actually have to reach the final again).

Only the 28 year-old Federer knows that answer to that.

Federer isn't the only top player who has all but ignored Davis Cup. Jimmy Connors did, as did Michael Chang. But others, such as John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, played it a ton and reaped the national accolades. But not every competitor either cares enough to represent their country, or believes that tennis fans really care. Del Potro has backed out of two critical ties and now Andy Murray says he won't play Britain's' first round Zone 2 tie against Lithuania, using Federer as an example.

But the Slam-less Murray's case is much different, as he's achieved few of his goals and doesn't have a capable player like Wawrinka that would give him reason to believe that his nation can go far.

To say the least, the first round for Spain is now much less interesting.

Federer has such a player, but at least in 2010, he doesn't seem to think the potential personal sacrifice is worth the risk. Agree with him or not, the tennis world will be much less interesting place when the Federer-less Switzerland's tie against Spain comes around in March. Hopefully, he'll change his mind, but it appears doubtful.

"I would like to stay the top player in the world, because going from No. 2 to no. 1 was hard work and not an easy thing to do especially with Rafa playing so well," said Federer of 2009 at the Qatar Open. "That was a major accomplishment for me and I would like to stay there as long as possible and try to finish 2010 as No. 1. I think I can definitely, if my body allows me, win many more tournaments than I did in 2009. (Because of injury) I really had to focus on the major events last year. I hardly played any smaller events, but if I'm healthy this year I can win many more tournaments and that could also help get me more confidence, more momentum."