tis a strange world...
totally agree, if players don't want to play in it, the should be left alone. I posted in a blog above how murray copped a heap of crap for pulling out last year was it? Even from his brother who I would have thought should have defended him. Sampras didn't seem interested. And Federer has every right if he wants to focus elsewhere.

i agree because I'm argentinian.
Nalbandian is one of those players... he's full talent, not that much of a training material, but every time he has to defend the flag in davis cup he's got the results, thing that does not happen when he's plaing for his own rank o money, he hasnt pass 4th round in the last maybe 12-14 GS. last year nalbandian won the 3 points against sweeden in quarters, played 3 points against russia (being exausted in the last one) and played 2 points aagainst spain, aabove all he hardly ever miss a davis cup tie

Totally agree about Nalbandian, esteban. I've always been saddened by the fact that we don't get to see Davis Cup Nalby at other times of the year. Still, that's sort of what makes DC so special. Guys like Safin and Nalbandian get a chance to show what they're really capable of.

Nice blog. You could have also mentioned del potro in this, as he basically said he just doesnt want to deal with switching surfaces. Another thing to mention, what was bad about Federer's withdrawal this time was because the house was sold out mostly to see him play.

Ah, but this time, Federer cited an injury. And unless you want to call the man a liar, you have to accept that he didn't feel ready to play competitively yet.

The Argentine team is just a big old mess right now. For sure.

France lost for 2 reasons:

1) Davis Cup isn't about depth - you can win with 2 players

2) Davis Cup is about home-court advantage

I felt sorry for Simon. On top of battling with an on-fire Stepanek and the raucous home crowd he had to cope with being harangued by Fourget at every change-over. That man is a menace and has verbal diarrhoea: at most players need encouragement not a bloody lecture while they are trying to regroup for the next game. If anything he is even worse in the commentary box - talking non stop even while the ball is in play and never letting his co-commentator get a word in edgeways.

Don't like him than ed? :) Oh my poor Simon. That reminds me of Peter Shilton who used to scream instructions at his defenders on how to help defend the goal post!

Tsonga did not play two singles rubbers. And Davis Cup is about playing the crowd just as much as you play your opponent. Simon is still relatively new to the pressures of elite tennis, and thats why he lost. He will learn if he plans to hang around in the top 10/20.

Really, really interesting posts. As far as Murray is concerned I think he had "burn out." He looked very lethargic at the A.O. and then had an ankle injury. I personally don't think he would have bothered to lie, doesn't seem the type.

Tsonga DID play 2 singles rubbers and won both of them. Only one, however, was live.

If Fed will earn 2000 points, a car, and an equivalent of a slam trophy... BACK PROBLEM or NOT, he will play 1001%!
WE don't expect him to play, but the least he can do is BE with his team... SOMETIMES!

Federer, Murray, Davydenko, del Potro, Monfils and Verdasco are the top 10 players that skipped DC. How come fed gets attacked for not playing? You cant say he is never with the team, he saved a few playoff ties in recent years. Way to go on being objective

Aside from straight facts, who here is comepletely objective with opinions/comments? Everything, even the blogs, are opinion-based to varying degrees.

"Sampras didn't seem interested."
Sampras DID pay DC for a few years (see 1995 DC final vs Russia on clay) but stopped for a number of reasons.

federer falling in love with the DAVIS CUP is all that all the fan tennis want but... not gonna happen. in football when we are injured we go to the matches like all the others to support our teammates,the same in all sports i think.

"Sampras didn't seem interested" does not translate to sampras NEVER played DC!

Orion- absolutely agree with you.Roger has always made sure the Swiss stayed in the group.And IMO he did this rather single-handedly many a times.Besides,as far as I know there have been times when Fed won his matches and the Swiss still ended up losing the tie. Not playing DC dosent make anyone less 'patriotic' IMO.

Nice blog, Cheryl. As a long time Safin fan (or should that be long suffering?) I'd also noticed that Marat rarely loses his concentration during DC matches. I've watched far too many tour matches where he looks like he'd rather be having a root canal than playing tennis. Considering his (self admitted) dental phobia, that's quite disturbing! Nalbandian's another player who gets more fired up by DC than normal tour matches. Conversely, Davydenko used to find DC very stressful and I don't get the impression Gasquet enjoys it either. Seeing as tennis is (by and large) an individual sport, it's hardly surprising that some players underperform in DC.

tennisfan - long suffering would indeed be a better word for it. :) I'd quite forgotten about Davydenko's proclivity for folding under Davis Cup pressure. I would argue that Gasquet has difficulty dealing with pressure in general - but it does seem to be worse when national pride is at stake. This is the same man who pulled out of the French Open because of the pressure of playing in front of his countrymen.

I love the Davis Cup, and how it takes tennis from being an individual sport to a team sport that national pride is staked on. Personally, I think this is what is missing from tennis, and why sports like football (soccer) is more successful - people love backing a team for pride in the club or country, not an individual. Of course, I may be wrong and it may just be spectacular marketing achievements on the football industry's part.

I have grown up in a culture that fosters strong pride and loyalty to one's family/country/etc, and I personally find it really strange when players say they don't want to play for their country because of [insert reason here]. Intellectually I get it, but... it's for your country. Why wouldn't you want to do so? To me, it would be more of an honour than anything else. However, I do understand the enormous pressure they would face to perform well in the name of the country. It's rather interesting to see how different players perform under a pressure that is totally different from what they are used to.

Ricky - I did mean live rubbers when I referred to the singles. Tsonga's second rubber was pointless.

Tenisbebe - Sampras played a lot of DC early in his career, but age and injury certainly was catching up to him + I don't think he was thrilled about the reception he got when he singlehandedly won that DC tie in Russia.

Davis Cup is just a weird tournament for me. What I think they could do to improve is make groups and every nation in the same group should play each other once. This way, teams like France is unlikely to get eliminated to early.

If the Davis Cup was an individual sport, nothing would keep Federer away, similarly, if the Olympics was a team sport, Federer would not be seen any way near it. Federer's pride is only in his achievements, not Switzerland's. He was happy to lead the Swiss team and carry the flag at the Olympics, but not interested in playing for his country in tennis. I have no reason to believe that he didn't have problems with his back since he missed the Dubai 500 as well, but on the whole he is not too keen on representing Switzerland.

I must stress this is IMO, before I get jumped on.

No tennis players, top or bottom ranked, have the obligations to offer their availability for Davis Cup. No point, no ranking to be earned. Instead, there is huge burden and pressure. What is more, it demands huge sacrifice of valuable breathing/nurturing time between master series where thousands of points for the players are at stake. Especially when it is an away tie, when winning chance is slim, especially when a playing is regaining the number one ranking, especially when it is Fed, the GOAT that we are talking about. No obligations. No way.

But we can never or, at least I can never stop admiring, supporting and feeling passionate whole-heartedly for players who play passionately for their countries, time and time again. This is the big heart, not the exquisite game, which we look up to a tennis player as a role model. Salute to the likes of Nalbandian, Safin, Nadal and especially, Roddick who actively contribute their service and wonderful game for the team, for their country, before their own. They are the pride and heroes of their countrymen.

Given the heavy toll of today?s tennis competitions, I daresay not one player does not have some parts of their body needing rest and nurturing between tournaments, when Davis Cup is scheduled.

Players all have their own priorities. Some players do have all the reasons not to play DC. No obligations for their country, for sure.

Some players always choose to play their heart out for their country, some don?t.
Some players always warm our heart and deserve our highest respects, some don?t.

Where to start? First of all, Fed has played many, many DC matches. He is an honorable man, so why doubt he had back problems? It's well known Roger is one of the most beloved players ever, and his fans are legion. But, on the flip side, it's very apparent that no one is neutral on the subject of Roger. It's love or hate. Those who hate will doubt and/or disrespect. Nuff said.

Andy Roddick has many detractors - those who say he's ugly American, etc. He's been nonstop DC stalwart. So, why doesn't he get the respect he deserves? Same thing - it's love/hate.

There are those who play DC and continuously lose, or worse, GIVE UP! Does this mean they are unpatriotic or afraid NOT to play? hmmm...

win or lose, someone who consistently representing their country, like what Roddick fought in the semifinal Davis Cup in Spain 2008, is heroic, even to his least favourite critic.
A role model, a beloved person should be always judged, loved and respected by what he does, and he reacts, what he says, NOT JUST by who he is. A person's personality and character can change ? any patriotic contributions, big or small, have their place in history. Players, big or small, they should receive their highly deserved honours for their continued contributions, unless they become incapable or unselectable.

At the very least, we expect any decent media, any decent journalists or bloggers to support players who pay huge extra effort to honour their country.

legion fans who surrender their blind loyalty no matter what, without any judgement, regardless what their idol does or say, is going nowhere, and not doing their idol any good either.