Switzerland: The 2014 Davis Cup Journey, Serbia — All the Thrills, Giggles, and Elbows to the Face

 
Tennis is a game of skill and intellect but, like any sport, results often take a bit of luck and just the right timing. Davis Cup, with its odd format that requires a Rosetta stone to fully understand, is no exception. For many years, the timing just seemed off for Switzerland. Lacking the roster depth of countries like Spain and France, getting through all the ties to the victory seemed a pretty big ask.

But then came 2014, and the timing seemed right. Especially when Stan Wawrinka clinched his first Grand Slam title in Australia. Surely a newly-minted Slam winner and the biggest Slam-champ of them all, Roger Federer, had a shot at DC this year? But the aging Maestro, ever-more careful about his schedule, wasn’t planning to play. Tennis fans were bummed when they realized the juiciness of a Djokovic/Federer match in the Serbia/Switzerland tie wasn’t going to happen.

Nole went off to do other things, and then…whoops. Somebody changed their mind last minute.

We’re not saying the late decision was calculated or anything. *eyedart* Whether it was or wasn’t, it was still funny.

Part of Rog’s motivation was surely to honor how Stan was making the trek so soon after winning his first major. The #Fedrinka bromance was in full effect, with both guys seeming equally thrilled about Stan’s win in Melbourne. We had a little fun with that…

We even got the Stan RT of approval on that one. There was one snafu in the idyllic Swiss brotherly lovefest, though. And that was the moment when Stan suffered an elbow to the head (pay close attention from 0:40 on)…

In other news, Stan was looking pretty fly for his Davis Cup tie…

And Rog was giggly…

The Maestro was still checking out different techniques for his new racquet…

And there were hints of dissension in the ranks…perhaps foreshadowing of the dramaz the press would totally make up that would occur late in the year…

On Day 1, Roger had a solid three-set win against Ilija Bozoljac.

 
But a mildly fatigued/strained Stan the Man struggled a bit in a four-setter against a feisty Dusan Lajovic.

(Go on to PAGE 2 for more of the BATTLE WITH SERBIA)