Djokovic on board for Davis Cup first round, Federer and Wawrinka missing as Switzerland visits United States
By Ricky Dimon
World No. 1 Andy Murray is not suiting up for Davis Cup competition this weekend, but second-ranked Novak Djokovic will be a part of the first-round festivities when Serbia hosts Russia. Djokovic is looking to bounce back from a stunning second-round loss at the Australian Open to Denis Istomin as he joins a favored Serbia side that also includes Viktor Troicki.
Russia is countering with youngsters Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev in singles.
“The Russians have a young and motivated team, therefore we have to take them very seriously,” Djokovic said. “They are all in the top 100 (and) they can all play singles and doubles, so it’s not going to be easy by any means.
“I always try to take the best out of these Davis Cup weeks for my individual career because we don’t get too many chances to represent our country in a team competition. Coming back to the Davis Cup week is like coming home to a family and with that in mind, we will do our best to delight our home crowd who turned up in such great numbers for yesterday’s practice.”
Defending champion Argentina will kick off its bid for a second straight title without Juan Martin Del Potro, but it will have home-court advantage against Italy. Switzerland is even more depleted, as it does not have either Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka against the host United States.
Federer and Wawrinka are coming off grueling Australian Open campaigns. An all-Swiss semifinal battle saw Federer prevail in five sets and the 35-year-old eventually captured the title by surviving another five-set thriller against Rafael Nadal this past Sunday. With its two leading veterans absent, Team Switzerland is an obvious underdog against John Isner, Jack Sock, and the rest of the American side
“We know all too well what can happen in Davis Cup,” United States’ captain Jim Courier cautioned. “The rankings are irrelevant; we have won as underdogs before and we lost as favorites. We have to go out and prove it on the court and that’s what we’re focused on now. I wish past results meant something but unfortunately we have to go out there and earn it. If past results had a bearing, we’d be winning the Davis Cup every year because we’ve won it more than any other nation. It’s been a decade since we won it, and we are certainly eager to try and get ourselves off on a good foot here in the first round.”
Swiss captain Severin Luthi, back from his success Melbourne with Federer, agreed that anything can happen.
“Anything in sport is possible, and especially in Davis Cup,” Luthi noted. “A lot of things are possible so we are going to try to do our maximum. I don’t think far ahead of a possible upset, we really have to take it match by match and in the matches play point by point. We’re not the favorites by far, and that’s why we shouldn’t think so much about that.”
Topics: 10sballs.com, Atp World Tour, Davis Cup, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Serbia, Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland