What a Davis Cup title would mean for Roger Federer
No Davis Cup in Federer’s trophy cabinet
Roger Federer knows his tennis history and respects it. And that was much before he became a part of tennis history. But for all his reverence of the sport’s traditions and its past champions, the one glaring oddity in Federer’s personality has been his unwillingness to commit to chasing glory in the Davis Cup – a tournament once considered the most prestigious in the world, but now reduced to a second-class citizen in the tennis hierarchy.
Whichever way you slice and dice it, Roger Federer has scripted the greatest career of all time in men’s tennis. Leaving aside his relative head-to-head record against a certain left-hander from Majorca, there are probably only two things that Federer has not achieved in his career – one is being part of a Davis Cup winning team, and the other is a calendar Grand Slam – something that has not been achieved since 1969 in the men’s game (1988 in the women’s) and is unlikely to ever happen again.
But now, at the grand old age of 33, Federer is one weekend away from taking care of the first of those two.
Individual glory vs nationalism
Throughout his career, Federer has paid more attention to individual glory rather than the team-leading effort that is required to win the Davis Cup. Sure, he has represented the Swiss in the Olympics and even won a doubles gold medal with compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the 2008 Beijing edition. But it’s much easier to play an event that affects your schedule for just about 10 days once every four years.
Committing to four weekends of tennis at home-and-away locations in the midst of the already packed tennis calendar is something that Federer has not been willing to do all these years. Until now, that is.
In 2014, Federer and Wawrinka have led the Swiss all the way to the finals, which will be held in late November against France. And a win there would give the Swiss their first ever Davis Cup title.
He doesn’t need to prove anything
Federer certainly does not need a Davis Cup title to add to his legacy – his status as the Greatest Of All Time is assured until and unless that left-hander from Majorca wins a 17th Grand Slam. But it would certainly be the highlight of his season, one in which he has rebounded from nearly dropping out of the top 10 to No. 3 in the world on the back of three ATP titles (including the Cincinnati Masters) and a runner-up finish at Wimbledon.
Federer has publicly stated that he wants to continue competing till the 2016 Rio Games. And he is going to keep looking for motivation and validation to do that. While an 18th Grand Slam title may be just a little out of reach, a Davis Cup title would certainly provide him enough reason to believe that he should still be competing out there.
Plus, Mr. Laver and Mr. Edberg would certainly approve!!