Many of tennis' top players are returning to action this weekend as various Davis Cup matches are played around the world. Novak Djokovic is playing for his native Serbia, and Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick are playing for the United States.
Roger Federer will play for Switzerland, which he hasn't done in the Davis Cup since 2009. Switzerland will be playing a "tie" against Portugal to decide who advances to the World Group playoffs to be held in September.
A few explanations: In Davis Cup play, the World Group (the group we associate with playing Davis Cup) consists of the top 16 teams in the world. Switzerland was relegated to Group I play (kinda like MLB Triple-A league) after losing in the first round of the World Group in 2010 to Spain (frankly, they had little chance even if Federer had played).
Since then, they have been playing in a Group I tournament, from which the top teams get to play a playoff with the teams that lose in the first round of the World Group. If they win, they get promoted back up to World Group for the next go-around.
Federer has gotten criticized of late for NOT playing for Switzerland's Davis Cup team, but in reality he has a career Davis Cup record of 37-11 since 1999 (27-6 singles; 10-5 doubles). For comparison, Novak Djokovic is 21-7 since 1994. I think Federer acquits himself well in this regard.
In any case, there should be a chance to see a lot of the top world's players this weekend playing for their home countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment