Federer Questionable for Davis Cup Final Against France

November 17, 2014 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Roger Federer was forced to withdraw from the ATP Finals championship match on Sunday with a back injury that he sustained while playing fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals. Now, with the Davis Cup final between Switzerland and France set to be played this weekend, the health of Switzerland’s top player is in question.

While the 33-year-old is confident he will be ready to go for the start of the final on Friday, he said on Sunday that the way he felt would not allow him to compete at any level.

“I was feeling great until yesterday’s [Saturday] tie-breaker. I felt all of a sudden the back was feeling funny,” said Federer on Sunday. “I tried to have treatment on it, medication on it, just tried to turn around as quick as possible really, but I didn’t really feel that much of an improvement overnight. Then you don’t have a day off or anything to work with, obviously it’s not enough time to recover.

The way I feel right now, there’s no way I can compete at any level really.”

Federer is no stranger to back issues as the world number two missed a chunk of his 2013 season due to back issues before staying healthy for the majority of 2014. His Davis Cup teammate and Swiss captain Severin Luthi said he hopes to have Federer ready to go on Friday.

“We will have to see how severe those back problems are and we hope that Roger will be able to recover until next Friday,” said Luthi on Facebook. “He now has to rest. Our team doctor Roland Biedert has come to London and, together with our physiotherapist Daniel Troxler, will work on Roger’s fast recovery.”

The French team of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet, features four players inside the top 30. They have beaten the Swiss in 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two, and have won the Davis Cup title 10 times. Switzerland has never won this event, and hasn’t been this far since it reached the final back in 1992.

The final gets underway this Friday, Nov. 21, from the clay courts of Lille, France.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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