Federer is seeking to send Switzerland into its first Davis Cup final since 1992 and bring the nation one step closer to its maiden title. The 33 year old will have destiny in his hands on Sunday, with the opportunity to seal Swiss hopes with victory over World No. 17 Fabio Fognini and Italy. The Italians were spared elimination after the five-set heroics of Fognini and Simone Bolelli in Saturday’s doubles rubber.
"With the season that Stan and me and everybody has had, we're ready for the big occasion and we're not going to shy away from it,” said Federer. “We're going to embrace it.”
Federer could potentially find himself with a jam-packed conclusion to his 2014 campaign, having clinched a berth in a record 13th straight Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, followed by the Davis Cup Final a week later. The Basel native has amassed a 35-7 singles record in Davis Cup play and is riding a five-match win streak, since falling to John Isner in a first round defeat to the United States in 2012.
Contesting his 25th tie, Federer is looking to equal the Jakob Hlasek and Marc Rosset-led 1992 squad that reached Switzerland’s lone final. The Swiss fell 3-1 to the U.S., despite a five-set win by Rosset over Courier in the second rubber. John McEnroe and Pete Sampras came back from two-sets down to clinch the subsequent doubles rubber, before Courier topped Hlasek in four sets for the title.
"We haven't had that much success as a team over the last 50 years, so we still talk about 20 years ago when they made the final in 1992 against Sampras, Agassi, Courier and McEnroe in Ft. Worth, Texas. We also have that opportunity to write history this time around. I hope they will talk about this team 20 years from now. It would be a dream for us, the players."
Date: 14th September 2014, Source: ATP
0 comments:
Post a Comment