Fed won't play Davis Cup 1st Round

[Kevin Patrick]

I find this news pretty odd. Federer seems to have so much pride in representing his country. One of his goals for 2004 was the Olympics, & he was devastated by his loss there.
He was the 1st player to play the week after winning Wimbledon in 20 some years because he wanted to play an event in his country, Gstaad.
I'm not sure why the #1 ranking is so important to him, he has such a big lead & the only important stat with #1 is who finishes the year #1, not who is #1 in March.



BERN, Switzerland (Ticker) - Due to scheduling problems and his recent injury, Roger Federer will not be playing for his country in the first round of the Davis Cup next year.

Federer, the world's top player, announced Wednesday that he would be unavailable for the Swiss' matchup against the Netherlands in early March, stating that his defense of the top ranking was his priority.

With the Davis Cup match scheduled directly before the Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne, the 23-year-old decided that those events proved to be more important than playing for his nation.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ap-parismasters&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

[pound cat]

When you become rich and famous you have your priorities...which brings me back to a previous Federer thread......

 

[AAAA]

2004 has given Federer a belief that he can achieve something very special in the years to come.

Even if he doesn't play Davis Cup, he can still put his country on the tennis map by winning slams. Winning DC is great but:

Roger Federer of Switzerland wins Aus Open 2004
Roger Federer of Switzerland wins Wimbledon 2004
Roger Federer of Switzerland wins US Open 2004

is just as good if not better for his many legions of Swiss fans.

 

[rhubarb]

I find this news pretty odd. Federer seems to have so much pride in representing his country. One of his goals for 2004 was the Olympics, & he was devastated by his loss there.
He was the 1st player to play the week after winning Wimbledon in 20 some years because he wanted to play an event in his country, Gstaad.

No more odd that Hewitt not playing the Olympics! He's been playing DC for 6 years, so he's due a break I think. Especially since it's quite clear that Switzerland aren't going win the DC because they don't have enough good players to back him up. He won't let them go down to the Euro I division if he can help it though.

Roger had a contract to play Gstaad for the past few years. He has not decided whether he will play it again next year - this may depend on DC outcome and other things. He still has to play in Basel until 2006 (and since he hasn't won it yet, he probably will).

I'm not sure why the #1 ranking is so important to him, he has such a big lead & the only important stat with #1 is who finishes the year #1, not who is #1 in March.

I strongly disagree with that. Not long ago, the number of (consecutive) weeks that a player is number one was considered far more important. It's only with Sampras that the end of year position picked up some meaning. After all, it's just as much an achievement to be number one in March as in December, and no more difficult. A "nice to have", but weeks up there are a better measure of greatness.

With regard to Roger's lead, this has diminished quite a bit. From 3000 points a month ago, by the end of this year he may only have a 1000 point lead, if he doesn't play the TMC. That's not very much, and he could easily lose the top spot in Australia. He seems quite keen to hang on to it.

 

[davey25]

I think Roger has gone above and beyond the call of duty for his country. He sacrificed his chances at the Olympics, and in the summer hard court events by playing Basel. How stupid logically to spend a week playing clay court tennis after many straight weeks of grass court tennis, then only get a week off since you need another week to practice hard court tennis which you wouldnt have needed had you taken a couple weeks off and played a smaller hard court event. However he did it for his commitment to his country and the people who organize tournaments and market tennis in his country. He continually plays Davis Cup and works his butt off not only playing singles, but playing the doubles matches almost by himself. He does not complain about having to carry his lame team on his own back, and how hard it is to get them far, and still stay fully motivated to the task. It is about time he thinks of himself and what he needs to do for his own conveniance and own well being for once. His recent injury is probably a sign to do that.

By the way I dont think tennis players really do care much about the Olympics. Just look at all the wacky results. They pretend to care, but they really just enjoy the Olympic atmosphere and sleepwalk through their tank jobs.

 

[pound cat]

But you'll be glad to know that in the last ouple of days Federer has said he likely will play Masters' Cup.

Break a leg Roger (Theatrical good luck expression in case someone thinks I'm wishing him ill LOL)

 

[Russell Finch]

I expect he'll be back for the playoff when they lose 5-0 without him.