Federer Suits Up While Djokovic and Nadal Sit Out Davis Cup

By Erik Gudris Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

(February 3^rd, 2012) One hopes that Spain had a chance to sing “We Are The Champions” to celebrate their fifth Davis Cup title over Argentina back in December because it’s time again for teams to put on their nation’s colors and do battle in this year’s competition starting next weekend. But even with this being an Olympic year, some of the sport’s biggest stars may not appear on their country’s rosters until well after the Summer Games conclude in July.

One star who is definitely putting on his team jacket next weekend is Roger Federer who despite his recent track record of skipping duty for Switzerland is scheduled to play for his homeland against the U.S.A. when the teams meet in Fribourg. Along with his Olympic gold medal doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka, Federer will lead the Swiss who are slight favorites over the U.S. that will be without usual Davis Cup go-to guy Andy Roddick who continues to recover from a hamstring injury suffered in Melbourne last month. Also missing will be Bob Bryan of the Bryan Brothers doubles team as he is staying home to adjust to his new role as father after his wife just gave birth to their new daughter. That leaves Mardy Fish, John Isner, Mike Bryan and young American hope Ryan Harrison with the responsibility of keeping America in the World Group after their early round loss to Spain in Austin last year.

With their near six-hour final in Melbourne still making headlines, it’s not a huge surprise that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will be sitting out next weekend despite their recent success in Davis Cup ties. Spain, lead by Nicolas Almagro and Juan Carlos Ferrero, will be looking to extend their record 21-0 unbeaten home run as they meet Kazakhstan in Oviedo, Spain while 2010 champion Serbia faces Sweden. Janko Tipsarevic leads the Serbs against Sweden who will be without their biggest star Robin Soderling as he continues to recover from mono.

Andy Murray will also be sitting on the sidelines even though his Great Britain team squares off against Slovakia on Murray’s home turf of Glasgow in a Europe/Africa Group 1 tie. Murray said in a statement, “I’m gutted to miss out on the Davis Cup having really enjoyed playing last year, but as it’s only the start of an important season, which includes the Olympics in London, it’s probably a sensible decision.”

Probably the most anticipated tie is the one between the “young guns” of Canada and the experienced French team who will meet in Vancouver. Rising stars Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil raised some eyebrows and earned some laughs as they both appeared in posters promoting the event that featured some clever trash talking against the French with Raonic saying “Hey France, I’ve got a 151 m.p.h. serve. Try returning that with a baguette.” while Pospisil was shown saying "Hey France, Welcome to Vancouver. My hometown and your worst nightmare." The Canadians are hoping a loud and excited crowd will create a hockey game like atmosphere that will give them an edge as they face the deep French team consisting of Michael Llodra, Gael Monfils, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The rest of the ties in the World Group during the weekend of February 10^th through the 12^th feature Austria vs. Russia, Czech Republic vs. Italy, Japan vs. Croatia and Germany vs. last year’s runner-up Argentina.