Roger Federer Took The Plane To Davis Cup, Stan Wawrinka The Train [Video]

They both look incredibly relaxed and happy to me, even though tired.

Hopefully they bond once more at DC, IF the rumours are true. Fall outs should not be based on rumour.

November 17th, 2014 at 2:29 pm

Did Federer drop out of London simply out of a cynical calculation that it wasn’t in his interests? It wouldn’t get him his coveted end of year No. 1 and after just barely beating Wawrinka it was clear he wasn’t going to beat a resurgent Djokovic. If he plays in Davis Cup only a week later it will become clear his “back problem” wasn’t severe enough to disappoint 18,000 paying fans and a million viewers in the tennis year’s most important tournament.

November 17th, 2014 at 5:30 pm

It will become clear, in your deranged mind.

November 17th, 2014 at 8:26 pm

The bottom line is that Roger Federer woke up on the morning of his semifinal with Stan and had some back pain. He went ahead with his normal routine during the day including his warm-up a few hours before the match. Ivan Lubacic who is one of Roger’s best friends noticed while watching him practice that something wasn’t right. The pain was nothing like the injury he had from 2013, but it did make his movement during that match substantially slower and labored. At 5-5 in the third set tiebreaker Roger really damaged his back and you could see it on his face. When Roger’s back is hurting it’s very noticeable in his service motion and return stance.

November 17th, 2014 at 8:34 pm

I will not lower myself to speak of a feud between Roger and Stan. That’s not mine or anyone else’s business. Roger did not want to damage his back anymore by playing against Djokovic in the finals and that makes perfect since when your 33 years old and trying to eek a couple of more years out of your career. In the next day or two we will here that Roger has also pulled out of the Davis Cup final in France. None of this is as hard on anybody as it is for Roger and we need to remember that. He handled everything like the man he is and that was evident when he took the bull by the horns and confronted 18,000 people with the news that he wouldn’t be fit to play.

November 17th, 2014 at 8:40 pm

Roger has aspirations about regaining world number 1 one last time at the beginning of next year, and he knows he must get that back at 100 percent as quickly as possible.

November 17th, 2014 at 8:42 pm

Serious TennisFan:

I really wish you had stuck to what you know, rather than speculation, because based on the facts you actually make a very strong case, but your speculation is just that and neither supportive nor insightful.

First, the facts: indeed he didn’t have a shot at #1, and if (without that incentive) he couldn’t be bothered, I think the ATP has to ask itself about the value of the WTFs.

I would agree it would be a fact that his back problem couldn’t be THAT bad if one week after pulling out of the final he plays 2-3 rubbers in the Davis Cup final. You would think they could would add another week before the Davis Cup IF WTF participants are playing in the final. What’s wrong with a little flexible scheduling based on who’s playing?

Interestingly, in 2008 del Potro played the WTF, then turned up injured at the Davis Cup final. He hadn’t won a major so the the WTFs were more important to him, but this touched off a big row between him and Nalbandian, who thought that he should have prioritized the Davis Cup.

I happen to agree with Nalbandian and Federer, but I’m a traditionalist. I might not be such a traditionalist if I had a ticket to the WTFs. Frankly, I’m surprised he wasn’t booed during his “retirement” speech, but I suppose that’s a testament to his popularity. I think any other player would have been harangued.

Now the speculation that he wouldn’t have beaten a “resurgent” Djokovic is really the worst kind: you don’t know any more than Federer does whether he would have beaten Djokovic.

Nobody predicted he would be Djokovic in the SF at RG in 2011, but he did. Very few predicted he would beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon SF in 2012, but he did that too. I think speculating on that is pointless – after all, that’s why they play the matches.

The real question is this: does Federer have the right to prioritize personal goals (winning a Davis Cup) over his commitment to the ATP? I not only believe he has the right to do so, I think he would be a fool not to.

First, nobody thinks he would have done this if he weren’t slated to play the DC final, so this is hardly likely to recur. You could argue that he should have pulled out of London altogether from the beginning, and I would agree with that.

But what does Federer owe the ATP tour? In my opinion, nothing. Ever since the tour took over the management of professional tennis in 1990 they have gone from being a players union to a corporate interest indistinguishable from the hodge-podge of Open Tennis carpet baggers that abused tennis fans in the early days of the new paradigm in 1968.

In those days, players would be withheld from the majors if the majors didn’t pay an honorarium to Lamar Hunt or Bill Riordan, or whoever else held the rights to the stars of the game. So professional players went from operating under the yolk of the ILTF (antecedent of the ITF and the organizing body of the majors and the Davis Cup) to the tyranny of Lamar Hunt and his competitors.

Incredibly, like sharecroppers staying on the plantation after the civil war, it seemed some players were prepared to give up the individual rights for a price – I’m speaking now of the NTL and the Handsome 8. But that didn’t last – Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors elucidated the stupidity of that model.

Today, tennis players have realized the philosophical motivation behind Open tennis, and 1973 boycott of Wimbledon – they wanted to be independent contractors free to ply their trade whenever and where ever they want. I, for one, am not going to fault Federer for exercising that right, even it if is ironically to the detriment of the ATP (which is not really a players union any more anyway, and behaves almost as tyrannically as their predecessors) and to the benefit of the ITF, who invented the abuse that the ATP currently exhibits.

To make a long story short – Federer should be free to play when he wants, even if it makes it hard for the ATP to sell the WTFs. If that’s a problem they can always make the WTFs more highly coveted than it is now – for example they could award $20M to the winner or give him 2,000 points that carry over to the next WTFs.

November 17th, 2014 at 9:04 pm

MMT

Agree with everything except the part that playing 1 or 2 matches in DC is a testimony that the back wasn’t that bad. Sure he will still feel something but we don’t know for a FACT the exact nature of the injury he had and prevented him for playing on Sunday.

Having 5 days rest (he played Saturday, did not play Sunday and will only play again Friday) is enought time to heal a back spasm oif that was it.

But I agree. If he didn’t have DC he would play even if losimg 6-0 or 6-1 or maybe was something that was bothering his serve we don’t know.

We could evaluate better if he plays or not DC. If he doesn’t it is worst than we think if he do, we have to look how he play and than we can judge and create our impression if he could have played WTF or not.

November 17th, 2014 at 10:10 pm

How do we all really know Feds back condition? A lot of “ifs” in the presuming here.
Do you know the difference between a back muscle spasm and a nerve being impinged by a bulging disc? One can be dealt with in short order and the other can be debilitating for months/years. I would not try to presume what is condition is and the prognosis without seeing his Dr or his X-rays. 2 cents.

November 17th, 2014 at 11:37 pm

He’s not going to play Davis Cup. In the next 48 hours the whole tennis world will know that Roger has a serious injury with his back. Once again I say, He’s not playing this weekend! He will be there to support the team and mainly Wawrinka.

November 17th, 2014 at 11:40 pm

MMT, fantastic post. It’s ridiculous to blame Roger for not playing the final, rather than blame the schedule. Roger has consistently payed the price for being the most popular tennis player many times with the schedule. Most of the time he has to play late matches in the semis and comeback with a very short turnaround time for the finals.

In IW or Miami where he had to play all night matches and comeback to play a day match in the final without complaining.

November 17th, 2014 at 11:46 pm

@Shane
Yep thanks for pointing that out I saw that tweet from Lube prior to Feds cancel.

November 17th, 2014 at 11:52 pm

ljub skeezer, ljub! ;)

November 18th, 2014 at 12:21 am

@jane,
Can’t let anything SLIP by you can I? ;)

November 18th, 2014 at 12:45 am

lol skeezer, lol.

November 18th, 2014 at 1:37 am

Scheduling? Indeed. But Federer’s OWN scheduling.
He has the right to miss a bunch of tournaments if he wants, he didn’t have to play smaller tournaments. But at 33 he plays tougher schedule than Novak… With Rafa absent most of the second half of the season, he saw his opportunity and went overboard with play collecting points at smaller tournaments. The result – back problem.

November 18th, 2014 at 1:57 am

An issue is being made out of a non-issue.Bad backs and Federer are not unfamiliar with each other. In the match against Stan you get to see the exact point where he felt pain. He was fortunate he hurt his back towards the end of the match so he was able to close it out, but there was no way he could play against Djokovic the next day. Had there been a rest day in between, a half-fit Federer would have definitely appeared on court; but with no rest day in between to give the back a rest it would have been useless to try compete against Djokovic. 5 days and continuous medical attention are enough to ensure that he recovers in time for the DC final. The notion that he forfeited the match to preserve himself for the DC final Iis ridiculous.

November 18th, 2014 at 2:17 am

Why should Federer bother about the organizers’ concern of showing up for “their” coveted title match when they are not interested in taking care of players’ concern and especially his concern in the given case. Federer is 33 and Djokovic is 5 years his junior. Federer is given 6 hours less time than Djokovic to recuperate for the final. Is it justifiable by any means? Why could the organizers not give one day break between semifinal and final if they really thought that WTF is so important? Pathetic organizers to say the least. Federer is right in not showing up for a mismanaged final.

November 18th, 2014 at 3:14 am

Well going by Mat4s picture on the other thread Roger and Stan seem friendly enough,and even if they were not does it really matter,and is it really any of our buisness?im sure we would all like to co-exhist in a would where everythings nice and fluffy and everybody gets on,but lifes not always like that,IMO its only speculation and nobody knows whats going on probably J.Mac hyping something from nothing,i said it about the Andy/Novak rivalry in that sometimes it gets too friendly,so does the one between Roger and Stan,maybe a little distance and annymosity might actually fire them up into turning around what are such lousy losing records against their rivals….

November 18th, 2014 at 3:48 am

@Danica,
Agree, Roger is victim of his own scheduling and not tournament scheduling, he was greedy, he wanted everything (#1, WTF, DC), he might as well end up with nothing.
As for some of his fans who are saying:

“Federer is 33 and Djokovic is 5 years his junior. Federer is given 6 hours less time than Djokovic to recuperate for the final. Is it justifiable by any means?”
Are you serious, are they going to start to organise scheduling to suit Federer and his 33 years? Good Lord, some of you, Fed fans, lost the plot, I can’t believe what I am reading. Some Rafa fans from last year look like a kindergarten compare to some Fed fans here.

November 18th, 2014 at 5:22 am

@Danica

The only “smaller” tournaments he plays are preparatory for slams (Brisbane, Halle) or his hometown ones (Basel, Dubai). This isn’t a new phenomenon either; he’s been playing those for years (with the exception of Brisbane.)

November 18th, 2014 at 5:28 am

^^plus four DC matches, five setters, it adds up, no?

Check how many tournaments Nole played and no DC matches and yet before the WTF final he said that he is exhausted with a long year.

November 18th, 2014 at 5:37 am

“Federer is given 6 hours less time to recuperate for the final”.
Lol Lol. A few days ago Daniel was boasting how Federer could finish playing and winning a match in 1 hr 10 min as against Rafa taking 2 + hrs. So this just proves a point Daniel and others that when he faces a quality player that time scale of 1 hr 10 min flies out of the window. Takes him 3 hrs, a time scale he is not used to cos he’s such a whizz kid in winning matches in below average time. Now the fedfans are complaining about the scheduling cos it affects fed. In the WTF 2010 Rafa played Andy Murray in a match that lasted 4 hrs(?) and then had to go out and face a fresh Federer less than 24 hrs later. Did Rafa fans complain about the scheduling? No!! But the fedfans were boasting about the bagel fed gave Rafa! Lol. What a bunch!!

November 18th, 2014 at 5:51 am

Was it a tactical withdrawal by Roger ahead of the Davis Cup clash ? Winning Davis Cup for his Country is just one of the few achievements that has eluded Roger in his otherwise glorious, startling and illustrious career, which guides as an inspiration for every budding Tennis Player who wants to make it big in the sport. I am sure that should have been in Roger’s mind when he announced his withdrawal from the WTF finals where he probably developed some back spasms after that marathon match with Wawarinka. Insisting on playing in the finals with a bad back might have jeopardised his plans for the Davis Cup. Roger has already won the WTF six times in his career and so there is nothing much to prove over there apart from winning for a record seventh time. What he needs to do now is win Davis Cup for the first time and make his Country proud, thereby cement further his standing in the list of Hall of Fame.

Still, I am not sure if Roger would participate actively in the Davis Cup despite his sojourn to France. Switzerland needs him badly if it is to have any chance of annexing the coveted trophy. So, I am just keeping my fingers crossed to see if Roger would actively participate to help Switzerland in its endeavour to emerge victorious.

November 18th, 2014 at 6:14 am

Wog Boy,

Who is not greedy in this World ??? Why blame Roger alone ? The World itself is greedy if you analyse everything from a logical perspective.

November 18th, 2014 at 6:17 am

Michael, you are right, we are all greedy one or the other way.
Some more and some less, for example, last year when Nole was chasing Rafa, he could play Basel or Valencia to get some extra points and get to #1, he didn’t, right? This year, I myself, posted on Nole’s site after Shanghai that I expect him to play either Basel or Valencia because I thought that Federer is just about to take #1 spot from him and Nole didn’t (he opted to be with Jelena and witness the birth of his child) I will also tell you that after Roger won Wimbledon, two years ago, Nole could have kept #1 for little bit longer if he only played one 250 tournament after Wimbledon, he didn’t.
So you are right, there is greedy .. and there is greedy.

November 18th, 2014 at 6:43 am

It does not matter Roger is 33 or Novak is 27. The scheduling is bad and gives unfair advantage to the player who wins the first semis. It needs to be a level field and both players should get enough time to recuperate.

November 18th, 2014 at 6:48 am

Someone will always be at a disadvantage when it comes to tournament scheduling,sometimes in GS players have waited till Wednesday to play their 1st round matches,while some are already in the 3rd rounds,in the Masters you get a 1st round by so you dont play till Wednesday,been a top player at least you get that luxury,recently Robredo made a final and played his first round match on Monday the following week in a different tourney,and he lost because he was too knackered to make an impression,after what was a marathon match with Murray….

November 18th, 2014 at 7:04 am

Was the scheduling the same when Roger won it in 2010 and 2011? I didn’t here you then complaining, Was the scheduling same for all of them since they are playing in London? I didn’t here you complaining last or year before last one, was Nole then playing late SF or Roger or Rafa, either way I didn’t here anybody complaining, maybe I missed it. It is luck of the draw, isn’t it?

November 18th, 2014 at 7:09 am

Wogboy Noles had his fair share of been shafted by unfair scheduling too,swings and roundabouts….

November 18th, 2014 at 7:13 am

^^”hear” and not “here”

November 18th, 2014 at 7:15 am

HC,
Thanks, that is excatly right. Nole wasn’t happy last year at USO when he had to play his SF against Stan daytime (hot and humid), he took it on the chin, they did the same to him this year against Nishikori (hot and humid), he took it on the chin same as us his fans, so why of the sudden some Rogers fans are crying faul about something that has been in place for years and they said nothing before.
Just move on.

November 18th, 2014 at 7:22 am

Wogboy ive often said it Nole has the best fans on this forum IMO,they take it on the chin more often than not,the Federer and Nadal fans seem to have an axe to grind with each more often than not….

November 18th, 2014 at 7:28 am

If somebody starts playing on Wednesday while some others have by that time already finished two rounds, it is bad scheduling whether it is for Djokovic, or Nadal or Federer. That is my point. And if you commit one mistake you do not correct it by committing a second mistake. It is insignificant who suffers by all such mismanagement. Such mismanagement can naturally breed suspicion in the mind of sports aficionados about the intent of the organizers

November 18th, 2014 at 7:35 am

As I understand the word fan is an abbreviation of fanatics. It applies equally to the fans of be it Djokovic or Nadal or Federe or any other player for that matter.

November 18th, 2014 at 7:39 am

Are you all still talking about this?

Wow. A pro athlete got hurt and missed an event.

Go on about your lives.

November 18th, 2014 at 7:41 am

TV,
I’ll take your advice..to start with I am going to bed.

November 18th, 2014 at 7:45 am

In 2009 the semis of the AO were on the same day,Roger raced through his match,even though Rafa played a marathon match against Verdasco,he still beat a much fresher and more rested Roger something that i thought would be impossible,even with a level playing field it doesnt always make any difference what so ever,so its not something that matters to me one way or another,great champions adjust to the situations….

November 18th, 2014 at 8:12 am

WB, was it not Novak who played one match in WTF to get a cheque. I do not remember exactly the year, but it was much publicized how greedy Novak was during that time.

November 18th, 2014 at 8:23 am

Well Rafa was at a disadvantageous situation and still managed to win the final but that does not mean the scheduling was right

November 18th, 2014 at 8:26 am

HC. “The Federer and Nadal fans seem to have an axe to grind …..”. Your post sounds as though you are saying you are not part of either fan base! The word “The” gives you away. Lol

November 18th, 2014 at 8:48 am

Fed endorsing Netjets might mean he flies to just about everything. If Ljubicic noticed an injury (straight shooter and great coach for Milos), I think this is much ado about nothing. Words were exchanged and they had a 10 minute heated exchange. 48 hours later I kind of doubt anyone cares too much. By the time, Friday arrives, it will be a thing of the past. In team sports, dust ups happen all of the time, but I think tennis being a largely individual sport leads to over analysis.

November 18th, 2014 at 9:08 am

The important thing is that tennis-x somehow got 10 articles out of this nothing squabble so everyone wins, I guess?

November 18th, 2014 at 9:20 am

Re; scheduling
It is what it is. The players know ahead of time when the tourney is going to end. I guess the bummer is for the fans, you would like to see matches where both players (especially in finals ) have equal rest, but thats not tennis, is it? You should have beaten the player in 2 sets instead of 3, just like your next opponet did, so what is fair?

November 18th, 2014 at 9:45 am

@Skeezer 9:45…..True dat!! We just can’t argue about scheduling and what is fair. It’s the same for everyone going into the tournament…..and sometime along the way there might be a player or two that get a break and vice versa. Reminds me of lyrics to an old song……..”Many a tear has to fall, but it’s all in the game”……..

November 18th, 2014 at 10:14 am

About scheduling: “It is at it is”

Because “it is at it is”
does that mean it is the only way?
does that mean it is the best way?
does that mean we just let “it as it is”?
does that mean it should just be accepted?
does that mean not look for a better method?
does that mean we don’t care for innovations?

I remember previously at the US Open, on the final Saturday, the first men’s semifinal was played followed by the women’s final then the second men’s semifinal. Then the following day, the men’s final was played. Why did they not keep it “as it is”?

November 18th, 2014 at 11:02 am

“Shane Gregg Says:
The bottom line is that Roger Federer woke up on the morning of his semifinal with Stan and had some back pain.”

That sounds like the bigger story there if he woke up with Stan.

November 18th, 2014 at 11:13 am

Polo,

Yes it is what it is, not it is AT it is,
It doesn’t mean it can’t change like the USO is, but in this case the players enter the tournament knowing no matter what the tournament is scheduled to end on a certain day. They could petition it to change in the future, but there are other factors going on besides 2 players. The sponsors & the fans have all invested there time and dollars to watch ( TV money also ) on that final day. Brochures, advertisements, employees, etc. Could they change the parameters of scheduling in the future? Sure, if the players get together and come up with a better plan than the tournament can provide then I am confident change will come. They have the power.

Regarding the USO, I am in the minority probably that dod not cheer when they moved the Final to Monday…..who watches a final on a Monday? But totally understand that playing A Slam format on one day, and then playing another match the next day is probably to much to ask for in a game that has turned into a lot of physicality.

November 18th, 2014 at 11:23 am

@Joe…..LOL…..I noticed that too but let it slide because a lot of TX posters don’t have a real good sense of humor…..Thanks for making me chuckle….that was cute!!

November 18th, 2014 at 11:25 am

@Skeezer 11:23……Totally agree!

November 18th, 2014 at 11:30 am

Skeezer,
Well, as you rightly pointed out, there were so many other factors besides the two players that were supposed to play in the final. But we know painfully that due to inability of a player to show up everything else got insignificant. If I am not able to do what the organizers and sponsors want me to do because of their mismanagement, why should I worry about those organizers and sponsors?

November 19th, 2014 at 3:30 am

Lol. What “mismanagement”???

November 19th, 2014 at 4:06 am

Mirka should keep quiet and be at home looking after the babies like most mothers.

November 21st, 2014 at 7:05 am

Thats a rather sexist attitude,i dont agree with what she said,but she is there supporting her husband,unlkie us mere mortals they are lucky enough to have the financial luxury where they can afford the best nanies money can buy….

November 21st, 2014 at 7:51 am

^ha ha. Should’ve stopped after “Mirka should keep quiet”

November 21st, 2014 at 8:05 am

Sirius lol err yes ;))….

November 21st, 2014 at 8:10 am