Davis Cup final: Roger Federer gives Switzerland a boost by taking part in practice
Thursday 20 November 2014 14:09, UK
Roger Federer has practiced for the first time ahead of this weekend’s Davis Cup final, when he hopes to represent Switzerland against France in Lille.
Federer has been struggling with the back injury he picked up during his dramatic semi-final victory over Stan Wawrinka at the World Tour Finals in London on Saturday night.
That victory set up a Sunday evening showdown against Novak Djokovic but Federer was forced to pull out of the match.
And he was initially unable to practice upon arriving in Lille, before taking to the court for the first time on Wednesday evening, when he hit with Switzerland's number four player Michael Lammer on the clay courts of the Pierre-Mauroy de Villeneuve-d'Ascq stadium.
Federer spent 15 minutes playing forehands and backhands from the baseline before switching to volleying, and he showed few signs of his back problem.
He then switched to serving, although observers at the session reported that his 20 service actions were not at full pace.
Federer had said on Tuesday: “I'm making some progress but I know I don't have a month ahead of me to get better. I need to get better quickly and I'm trying whatever I can.”
One of the greatest tennis players of all time, Federer is a 17-time major winner, but he has yet to win the Davis Cup.
The final is due to get underway on Friday with a pair of singles matches and the draw is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
World No 4 Stan Wawrinka is scheduled to play two singles rubbers for the Swiss team but the absence of Federer for any singles matches would be a major blow as either Marco Chiudinelli (World No 212) or Lammer (World No 508) would have to replace him.
France have a solid team to select from and they are likely to be represented on Friday by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and either Richard Gasquet or Gael Monfils.
