Federer’s Missing Link: A Swiss Davis Cup Win
The drum rolls are already beginning to thump for Roger Federer as he moves closer to another Wimbledon trophy, a win that would surpass Pete Sampras’ Grand Slam title record. He’s no doubt on the short list for greatest of all time (even though his injured rival Nadal usurped him in pre-Wimbledon press) but when compared with Rod Laver, Sampras, Don Budge, Bill Tilden and others in the hall of fame pantheon, he is missing a silver item required of those claiming tennis immortality, and I’m not talking about a Rolex watch: He has not won a Davis Cup for Switzerland, his home country that has never won the international team event.
Sampras, although he often didn’t compete in Davis Cup later in his career, in 1995 put in a heroic performance in the finals on clay in Russia, wining both his singles matches and the doubles with Todd Martin. Sampras also played on the talent heavy 1992 cup-winning team.
Laver’s Davis Cup performances are legendary, and in 1962 and again in 1973 he won both his singles matches and the doubles match in the final round to secure the cup championship for Australia.
Budge, as detailed in the marvelous new book A Terrible Splendor, not only won the first Grand Slam (only he and Laver have ever done it) but lead the U.S. to the 1937 Davis Cup by winning a classic five-set match against Gottfried von Cramm of Germany. And Tilden led the U.S. to seven straight Davis Cup championships in the ’20s.
Not that Federer hasn’t tried. He played every year from 1999-2008, compiling a 25-6 record in singles and 10-5 in doubles, but this year he bailed out on his team before a match the first weekend in March against the U.S. in Birmingham citing his withdrawal as a “precautionary measure.” Of course, he played for himself only five days later in the Masters tournament at Indian Wells, a clear indication of a weak commitment to the cup.
He may yet prove to be the greatest of all time, but he needs to bring home the Davis Cup to make such a claim. Davis Cup competition is like none other in tennis: The fans are louder, more passionate, and the play is more than for yourself, but for your country, often in a hostile environment. With Stanislas Wawrinka as a teammate and doubles partner, Federer has no excuse.
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Jun 29th, 2009 at 3:44 am
Your Federer/Davis Cup article is right on target.