Bernard Tomic will look to give Australia the whip hand in the opening Davis Cup World Group qualifying rubber against Switzerland at Royal Sydney on Friday against an opponent who freely admits to not being fully fit.
While much of the focus will turn to the second fixture between Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer, Australia's prospects of getting back into the World Group will be closely aligned to the result of the opening rubber.
Australia have already targeted wins against Stanislas Wawrinka as the most likely path to victory and the home side got some encouragement in Thursday's draw with Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tomic paired against the Swiss number two in the first match.
World number 19 Wawrinka, who has a modest 9-13 record on grass and has been carrying a foot injury, said he was feeling better and OK to play but was "still not 100 per cent".
Federer though quickly dismissed any concerns that he would be feeling the effects of two flights and limited preparation following his US Open semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic.
"I'm not sore. Sorry to disappoint you," he said.
"I'm feeling good, really good, actually."
So good it seems, he has been named to play in the doubles with Wawrinka on Saturday and reverse singles on Sunday - although Davis Cup captains can choose to change their playing roster for matches after the first day.
Hewitt is also slated to have a three-match tie, teaming with Chris Guccione in the doubles.
The former world number one who went through a horror 15-match losing streak to Federer said he got a major boost from beating the 16-time grand slam champion in their last clash, the 2010 final in Halle, also on grass.
"On grass with Roger's record in Halle, that gave me a lot of confidence to come back from a set down and win that match and win a title against Roger," he said.
"But Davis Cup's different. It's over five sets obviously and Roger is going to be up for it tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday as well.
"As a team we have to find a way to get three points out of the five matches."
Federer felt he should have won that day but conceded the result would have given his great adversary a boost.
"It increases maybe his belief that he can beat me but a former world number one and former Wimbledon champion should always believe he can beat anybody on any given day and it's going to be interesting to see how it goes but I am really happy to be playing against Lleyton," he said.
The winner of the tie advances to the Davis Cup World Group in 2012 while the loser will be forced to battle it out in zonal qualifiers for the chance to enter the elite competition again in 2013.
Australia has not played in the 16-nation World Group since 2007.
AAP
Tags: tennis, sport, australia, switzerland First posted September 15, 2011 18:18:35
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