Spinal discord: Focus returns to state of Roger Federer’s injured back

As if Federer’s injury concerns were not enough, the Swiss are also worried about Wawrinka’s morale as the country bids for its first Davis Cup victory. After wasting four match points against Federer in London, the Australian Open champion said he “can either be destroyed or bounce back” from such a tough loss.

Defusing tensions

Following the match, two men are also said to have been involved in a heated spat after Wawrinka complained about noise coming from Federer’s box in between serves toward the end of the third set. Federer defused the tensions by posting a picture on Twitter of a united Switzerland team, with Wawrinka making bunny ears behind his teammate, and both players insisted on their friendship on Tuesday.

“We had a conversation after the match. Everything’s totally relaxed about the situation. We’re old enough,” Federer said. “I just wanted to see if there were any hard feelings because it was probably one of the loudest moments of the match. Clearly a lot of noise. Like I said, there is no hard feeling whatsoever. We’re having a good time here. We are friends, not enemies.”

Federer traveled to the northern French city of Lille by private jet on Monday, hoping to recover in time before the best-of-five series beginning Friday with two singles matches, followed by doubles on Saturday and reverse singles on Sunday.

“It was definitely not good enough to practice yesterday,” Federer said Tuesday. “I wish progress would be faster, but we’re trying hard. We’re heading in that direction. I feel it’s definitely a little bit better than it was on Saturday night and Sunday and also Monday. Baby steps, I guess. I’m hopeful.”

Federer had been in tremendous form this season, playing a more offensive game and bagging five titles while staying injury-free after back problems damaged his 2013 campaign. Chasing the only major title still eluding him, Federer also showed his commitment to the Davis Cup this year, joining the Swiss team immediately after his loss in the U.S. Open semifinals to take part to their semifinal against Italy in September.

For years, Federer did not regard the Davis Cup as a main priority. The emergence of Wawrinka as a top player changed the equation and convinced him they had a good chance of winning the event. But without Federer, the Swiss have won just one of the 10 ties they have played in the World Group since his debut in the competition in 1999.

If Federer can’t play, Swiss captain Severin Luthi will have to do either with the 212th-ranked Marco Chiudinelli or No. 508 Michael Lammer. 

Unlike its opponents, France is at full strength with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet having traveled to Lille after a training camp in Bordeaux. Clement also summoned Gilles Simon as a reserve player. Both Tsonga and Gasquet, who won their singles matches and teamed up in doubles in the victory over the Czech Republic in the semifinals, said they are not getting distracted by the Swiss team’s struggles. France is looking to win the trophy for the 10th time.

“I think for this weekend, the important thing for us is to stay focused on ourselves, on our team,” Tsonga said. “What we need is to have a perfect performance. What we can do is just play tennis. Anything else is not really our business.”

Hoping for a stronger hand

As years go 2014 has not been a good one for Rafa Nadal but with his injury troubles seemingly behind him, the Spaniard is confident he will be back to his best next season. Nadal, blighted by back and wrist injuries this year, underwent surgery to remove his appendix on November 3, an operation that forced him out of this month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Now on the mend, the 28-year-old Spaniard hopes his injury troubles will be nothing more than a memory when he returns to training in December before he begins the defence of his Qatar Open title in January.

“It was not an easy year, especially in the second half it was hard, but that’s part of my life, that’s part of my career, and I accept that,” Nadal said . What happened with my wrist and then appendix — it was problem and then problems again. I am not practicing yet, but I am happy with how the operation went and I have no problems.”

Nadal’s frustrating season began in January when his back failed him during his Australian Open final defeat by Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

He managed to recover to claim a ninth French Open crown after beating Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros in June

However, that proved to be the only shining light in a testing season for the world number three as he was beaten in the fourth round at Wimbledon by Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios before a wrist injury ruled him out of the U.S. Open.

Unlucky year

“This year was unlucky because it was accidents, it was not injuries that I had really felt before,” the 14-time grand slam winner said at a Poker Stars event in London. “I am doing all the right things but I have worked my body pretty hard for a lot of years so these kind of things can happen. But I am confident I will have the chance to be back and be competitive with all the things I want to compete in,” he added.

Djokovic, who won the season-finale in London on Sunday after Roger Federer withdrew with a back injury, finished the year as world number one for the third time in four years and the Mallorcan praised the Serb’s consistency over the last 12 months. “He is a fantastic player,” Nadal said. “He deserves to be where he is because he hasn’t had an injury for a long time and that’s very important for a tennis player. He is an amazing player so he deserves it.”