Where's the Fire, Roger?

by Pete Bodo

Roger Federer, a long-time Davis Cup refusenik, seems to have experienced a late-career change of heart when it comes to the storied international team competition.

Perhaps he began to feel a bit of pity for poor Stan “the Man” Wawrinka, Marco Chuidinelli, Yves Allegro, Stephane Bohli, Michael Lammer, and even his sometime personal coach, Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi. Time and again, he's raised their hopes and expectations by parachuting in like a firefighter to douse the flames that threaten to burn up the crimson-and-white at the fringe of the elite World Group, only to back away once Switzerland avoided relegation. Federer hasn't played a first-round World Group match since 2004.

Just look at what Federer did last September. Although he absorbed a bitter loss to Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals, he sucked it up and immediately jumped a jet for Australia, where the Swiss met the Aussies in a World Group playoff tie to determine which nation would remain in the Cup's top tier. Federer gave Lleyton Hewitt a four-set licking and humbled rising young star Bernard Tomic in his singles matches.

Wawrinka was of little use Down Under, at least until he stepped up and clinched the tie for Swtizerland with a thrilling five-set, four-hour win over Hewitt in the fifth and final rubber. The match in Sydney had to be called on Sunday because of darkness, and resumed (for just one game, as it turned out) on Monday.

Hewitt has never been accused of being a SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy), but he admitted that he cried for just the second time in his career after taking that loss to Wawrinka. Hewitt being one of the most dedicated Davis Cup players of all-time, you just know the other time had to be in Davis Cup as well. Bingo. Hewitt wept after he was beaten by Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in the decisive match of the 2000 final.

Hewitt has compiled a 47-14 Davis Cup record (37-11 in singles), and Federer—surprisingly—isn't that far behind. He's 41-12, 30-6 in singles. The record speaks for itself, even if it is laden with a fair number of stiffs (as are most Davis Cup records).

But while Hewitt will play any and every time his nations asks, Federer would rather put out the fire, slough out of his asbestos jacket and spoon-shaped hat, and go about his business, which has been that of collecting Grand Slam singles titles undistracted by inconveniences like Davis Cup ties. Maybe he's just been trying to keep everyone happy. It wasn't the worst strategy when Switzerland had absolutely no chance to win the championship.

Now it seems like he’s gotten tired of watching his compatriots spin their wheels in the same place on the same road, year after year. His vacillations became harder to justify once Wawrinka emerged as a Top 10 player in 2008, but even then—Federer has played in just three ties since then, all of them wins.

Federer may have missed his window of opportunity, now that Wawrinka is a less impressive No. 28, and Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have eclipsed him in the rankings. Maybe he’s feeling a little guilty, having watched his teammates expend themselves, all gung-ho, only to find themselves staring at the team leader’s back as he dusts off his hands and walks away from it all.

The other day in Fribourg, Switzerland, where Federer will lead his squad in a first-round World Group clash with the U.S., Federer recalled Wawrinka’s effort in Sydney. He said, “It’s only normal for me to play the first round after that heroic effort of his.”

Oh, really? We're working with a new definition of "normal" here, and that's welcome.

It’s difficult to know just what lies behind Federer’s change of heart. Maybe it's that he's never been part of a winning Davis Cup team. Some critics point to that as a weakness in his resume. Also, it’s an Olympic year, and that always stimulates patriotic feelings. Then again. Week-in, week-out tournament tennis is nice and all, but maybe the thrill wears off when you appear in that 99th final (Federer has been in 100, winning 70)? Grand Slams are great—the wellspring of our sport—but there’s this guy Rafa. .  . And so forth.

Switzerland's side of the draw is loaded, with potential ties against France (with Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and Spain (Nadal isn't playing in the first round, but that semifinal wouldn't be until September, so anything can happen). A win over the U.S. (which is the likely outcome on the slow indoor clay in Fribourg) would guarantee that the Swiss stay in the World Group for at least one more year (2013), even if they don't win another tie this year. This may be part of Federer's thinking. Get the fire put out now, on home soil, instead of having to fly halfway around the world again come the fall.

Whatever the case, Federer became downright nostalgic about the event that he gradually moved from his "must-do" list to his "must-do-if-I-have-nothing-better-to-do" list as his career blossomed. Mere months after Hewitt was left weeping at Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi following Spain's win, Federer won both his singles and the doubles (with Lorenzo Manta) as Switzerland spanked a U.S. team lead by Todd Martin and featuring a talented rookie in Andy Roddick.

Federer was 19 at the time, and playing just his fifth Davis Cup tie. Just months later, he arrived as an international star when he beat four-time defending champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round of Wimbledon. “It was a start of great things for me," Federer said. "And I’m happy playing America again.”

Maybe, in the end, Federer is just searching for the fountain of youth.