Swiss star Roger Federer faces a race against time to be fit for the Davis Cup final against France.
The 33-year-old Federer pulled out of the final of World Tour Finals against Novak Djokovic Sunday due to a back injury, raising doubts over his participation in the showpiece match that starts in Lille on Friday.
“We will have to see how severe those back problems are and we hope that Roger will be able to recover until next Friday,” Severin Luthi, the Swiss Davis Cup captain, said in a statement on Facebook, referring to the final that is being staged November 21-23.
“He now has to rest,” added Luthi. “Our team doctor Roland Biedert has come to London and, together with our physiotherapist Daniel Troxler, will work on Roger’s fast recovery.”
But speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Federer sounded cautiously optimistic.
“My back is better than it was Sunday, but not good enough for practice yet. But I’m hopeful,” he said.
After pulling out of Sunday’s final against Djokovic, Federer adopted a more optimistic tone than Luthi.
Roger Federer
“This back spasm [or] whatever it might be, it’s just not a fun thing to have during the day,” Federer said on the official Davis Cup website.
“It’s just uncomfortable. But I’m positive and I’m hopeful that it’s going to go away very soon.”
Federer was plagued by back issues in 2013, largely contributing to a sub-par campaign – by his illustrious standards.
He has enjoyed good health in 2014, though, one of the reasons the 17-time grand slam champion was able to No. 2 in the world rankings.
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The Swiss star picked up the injury in the third-set tiebreaker of his late-night 4-6 7-5 7-6 (6) victory over Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka Saturday.
Wawrinka crunched a backhand at Federer when the latter was at the net and also, at one stage, Wawrinka jawed at the Federer camp, seemingly unhappy with something that was said to him.
The Davis Cup title, along with an Olympic singles gold medal, is one of the few gaps in Federer’s resume.
