Roger Federer dismisses any rift with Stan Wawrinka and hopes to be fit for the Davis cup tie
All is well between Roger and Stan
After pulling out of the final of the ATP tour finals on Sunday, Roger Federer has said he is hopeful of taking part in Switzerland’s Davis Cup rubber against France and denied any sort of feud with teammate Stan Wawrinka.
“It definitely was not good enough to practice yesterday [Monday],” The Swiss ace said.
There was a courtside interruption by Federer’s wife Mirka during the last moments of the semi-final on Saturday and Federer confirmed that he had had a chat with Wawrinka at the end of the match.
“I was on the other side of the court, quite far away.We had a conversation after the match. Everything’s totally relaxed about the situation”. The 17-time Grand Slam champion said.
The 33-year-old added that there are no ill feelings between the two and that they continue to remain friends.
“I just wanted to see if there was were any hard feelings because it was probably one of the loudest moments of the match, around 5-4, 5-5 [in the third set] – clearly there was a lot of noise. There’s no hard feelings whatsoever. We’re having a good time here – we are friends, not enemies. It was one of those heat-of-the-moment situations.” Federer said.
It was a small thing and the focus is on the Davis cup tie: Wawrinka
The end game chat between the two was confirmed by Wawrinka as well and called it a small matter.
“We talked about that straight after the match. Not only about that but about many things. We know how to deal with a small thing like that. We have known each other for a long time”. the 2014 Australian champion said.
“We’ve never had major problems between us because we know each other well. In one particular tennis match, especially in a semi-final, there can be tensions. It’s become a big deal because of the press but, for us, it’s nothing really. It took us five minutes to talk about that, to think about the next main goal that we have: the Davis Cup this weekend.” he added.
When enquired about his back condition, Federer said that the process to recovery is a slow one but he needs to recover quickly before the rubber began.
“I needed rest in the very beginning because you need to have the inflammation go away.Then it’s exercises and treatment. It’s something I’ve had in the past. I have a great team around me. I know as well a little bit myself how quickly I can move forward, but it’s been a slow process. I wish I could be on the practice courts but I can’t be there yet. I need to get better quickly.” The 33-year-old said.
Federer even tweeted a photo of him with the Switzerland team.
Preparations have been good: French Captain
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s opposition in the rubber France arrived in Lille on Tuesday and their captain Arnaud Clement said that the team was preparing with the mindset that Federer would take the court on Friday.
“For the time being, we are not thinking that Roger Federer will not play on Friday.We have been preparing for 10 days, and we are prepared to play the Swiss team with Federer and Wawrinka. Many people asked questions about Federer, even before he pulled out on Sunday. But what we are going to play is not Federer’s team – it is the Swiss team” Clement said.
“What we need to do is prepare the best we can until the last day, until the last practice session, and we’ll see who we’ll have to play. But I know they will do everything they can so that Roger will be totally fit for Friday,” he added.