Back in November, playing in front of a record 27,448 fans at Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy, an “unbelievably happy” Roger Federer had called the Davis Cup final “a beautiful weekend for tennis”.
The Swiss’s presence in Lille had played a big part in creating that “great atmosphere” and he had fought the clock to be a part of that celebration, shrugging off a back problem that had forced him to withdraw from the final of the World Tour Finals against Novak Djokovic a week earlier.
Keen to get his hands around the only major trophy missing from his glorious CV, Federer wanted to be there in Lille and win it for the “boys” – meaning his teammates Stan Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer.
As the team returned home from their first Davis Cup conquest, they were greeted by more than 10,000 cheering fans in Lausanne.
Those scenes of jubilation looked distant last week, though, as the defending champions lost 3-2 to Belgium.
Last year, Switzerland had a 17-time grand slam title winner and the reigning Australian Open champion on their team; last week, their top-ranked player was No 321, Adrien Bossel.
They had No 292 Yann Marti on the list as well, but he reportedly walked out in a huff after not being picked for Friday’s singles.
As all this drama played out in Liege, Federer was in Hollywood, being feted by a sponsor for crossing the 1,000-win mark. Later, he flew out to New York for a lucrative exhibition match against Grigor Dimitrov at Madison Square Garden.
“I have played for so long and I think by winning it [Davis Cup] I can finally do whatever I please, to be quite honest,” Federer said in Dubai last month as he explained his decision to give the Davis Cup a miss.
“It’s been a big burden for me throughout my career and one of the things that have caused more difficulties in my life than many other things, I must say, because I always feel there is so much guilt put on you from the federation or from the ITF more so than anybody else. So I’m happy I was able to finally tick that off and do it altogether.”
Mission accomplished, Federer, who has appeared in 26 Davis Cup ties since 1999 for a 50-17 win-loss record, seems to have no love left for the Davis Cup and his words reflect the dwindling credibility of the biggest annual team competition in the world.
When one of the greatest players of all time says playing in the Davis Cup was a “burden”, then the mandarins at the International Tennis Federation need to wake up and take notice because Federer is not alone in holding such an opinion.
The ITF bosses need to sit down with the players and work out ways to restore Davis Cup to its former glory.
If franchisee-based exhibitions, such as the International Premier Tennis League, can convince the top stars to cut short their off-season, then there is no reason why ITF cannot get them to play in a prestigious tournament for their nations.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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