The former Olympic gold medalist doubles team of Beijing (edited, not Athens), Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, have lost a crucial doubles match today vs. Kazakhstan in four sets. Andrey Golubev and Aleksander Nedovyesov uplifted heavy underdog Kazakhstan to a two to one lead heading into reverse singles tomorrow in Geneva.
For Fedrinka, it’s the fourth Davis Cup doubles match in a row that they have lost.
Clearly, there must be some emotional and psychological complications affecting the chemistry of this should-be, sure-fire Swiss wonder team. Federer and Wawrinka have a close, perhaps almost big brother/little brother relationship. Not dissimilar to the former McEnroe Brothers team of John and Patrick, who were not able to achieve spectacular results together.
Unfortunately for Federer and Wawrinka, when they play together, the pressure and expectations on them must be astronomically frustrating. Everyone in the world expects them to win just about every set. After all, they won the Olympics together and have won a combined eighteen Grand Slam singles titles.
Despite their historic accolates, Fedrinka are far from being a perfect team. A lot of people don’t remember that in Toronto in 2008, just before the Olympics Games, Fedrinka lost to Paes/Dlouhy. Amazingly, in Athens, after both failing in singles, they found their doubles groove together and shocked the world by winning gold.
But it has to be terribly difficult for them, in ways us mortals can’t even come close to imagining, each and every time they play because no matter what the occasion, their opponents, whether it’s Golubev/Nedovyesov or Fish/Bryan, are all super charged up to have the chance to compete against the global icon Roger Federer and his sensational sidekick Stan Wawrinka. In most cases, it’s the biggest or one of the biggest moments of a player’s career to be able to duel Roger Federer on a center court in a marquee event, especially Davis Cup.
So right off the bat today, the Fedrinka opponents are sky high for the highlight moment of their careers, and don’t forget for a second, for Fedrinka it’s just another match everyone in the world expects them to not only win but win convincingly and with flash and dash.
Today, the situation clearly inspired Golubev and Nedovyesov to play like major champions for the entire match. They broke Federer in the first game and never blinked. The player who blinked today was Wawrinka and that’s putting it mildly.
Wawrinka’s level of play was downright disastrous for stretches. He was missing and bungling the most routine of shots, especially volleys, even easy put-aways. I have never seen a superstar talent like Wawrinka play so poorly as what we saw today. It was discomforting to watch on TV, just imagine how dreadful Federer had to be suffering to see his dear friend struggle so mightily. You almost expected Federer to hug or kiss or scream at or even attempt to strangle Stan, anything to shake him out of his doldrums.
It was a lost cause and now the task at hand is exponentially more complex. The Swiss have to defy and subdue two unlikely titans who surely believe they can finish the job. Wawrinka must defeat a man he’s already lost to in Davis Cup, Kukushkin, tomorrow to keep Switzerland’s flickering hopes alive. If Stan can regain his composure and post a victory, Federer will have to conquer the gargantuan Golubev, a man he has never met in singles before. Golubev was the best player of the match today and he’s the star so far in this tie, on account of his singles vs. over Stan on Friday.
With Switzerland which entered this competition so determined and hopeful of it’s chances to finally win the Davis Cup this year, with both Roger and Stan completely on board and committed to the task, if they were to fail tomorrow it would be catastrophic. Because they may never have such an open route to the Davis Cup final as they do right now, with just France, Germany, Czech Rep, Great Britain, Italy and of course Kazakhstan standing in their path.
Though the drama and mayhem was almost painful to watch today, tomorrow might even be more unbearably extreme for Switzerland to try to navigate through.
Four losses in a row for Fedrinka
Margo · April 5, 2014 at 6:35 pm
Fedrinka won the doubles gold in Beijing, not Athens..
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 6:39 pm
Whoops, you’re right, thanks for the quick correction Margo and welcome to the site. Please forgive me my mind is still fried from fourteen straight days of Sony Open tennis 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 6:42 pm
Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez won the doubles gold in Athens 2004, saving four MPs in the fourth set tiebreak vs. Germany’s Scheuttler/Kiefer. One of the most exciting doubles matches I’ve ever seen. Actually one of the most exciting MATCHES period.
Margo · April 5, 2014 at 6:48 pm
Thanks Scoop! I actually LOVE doubles and still have my hopes that it will be more televised in the nearby future. It’s a different kind of tennis and often very exciting to watch. Been several time to the WTFs and enjoyed every match there…
Andrew Burton · April 5, 2014 at 6:49 pm
Stan struggled today: a missed FH sitter in the second set TB, down 4-3, was genuinely horrible. But the pair’s problems as a doubles team go much deeper than that, I think.
The most important player today for the Kazakhs was the server’s partner. The Kazakhs played good solid ATP doubles: hitting a high percentage of first serves and taking away the simple cross court return with well-timed crossing moves.
When the Swiss served, there were many fewer poaches. If the Swiss had a second serve, the returner had a guaranteed cross court drive return – a shot Golubev executed consistently. The Swiss never made Golubev hit a winning return into the tramline.
The Swiss just need to tell themselves it’s single elimination tennis in Melbourne or New York. Wawrinka would normally go into a R128 or R64 match against Kukushkin strongly favored. Fed vs Golubev? Surely Fed would go in as the 95% favorite.
So if the Kazakhs pull this tie off, well done them. But I think you ought to favor the Swiss, still, for the SF.
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Another observation: it’s almost like Stan does not want to upstage Roger in any way. Like he subconsciously holds back to let Roger be the star. Stan shrinks like a second banana, he never does anything alpha male like. He can’t shine and doesn’t really even try to shine. We have a similar scenario with a guy like that who we play with, former college star, state champion, this title that title, legend of north Jersey tennis. No matter who he plays singles or doubles he’s always the alpha male, giving tips advices, do this do that, stand here there, you’re in the wrong place, etc. I’ve seen so many of his partners just unravel and fall apart. It’s impossible to play with the guy against a good team, or if they start losing. It’s gotta be equally distressing for a second banana type player like Stan to be with Fed, though there is no open criticism (except for after the loss to US last year where Federer said he wasn’t happy with Stan’s play), it’s got to be so hard every time Stan misses. And then it just compounds. Roger doesn’t seem to know how to inspire and uplift Stan.
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Margo, lately I feel the same way about doubles, in some ways it’s more interesting and thrilling than singles, especially now since so many singles styles are so similar, baseline rallies, two handed backhands. I watched a lot of Hingis/Lisicki at Sony Open, and also the Bryans, and the Colombians Farah and Cabal with their vocal supporters. These matches were some of the most memorable I saw at Sony Open. The longer crazy points in doubles are actually as exciting if not more so than the best points in singles. I love doubles too 🙂
Margo · April 5, 2014 at 7:18 pm
That’s what I meant, the power tennis doesn’t suit me at all, I love the single handed backhands (watch the new kid on the block Dominic Thiem from Austria – spotted him already in 2010 when he warmed up Roger at Wimbledon) and the serve-and-volley.. Old fashioned, yes. But IMHO that’s the way tennis is meant to be played. And that’s what we can see in doubles!
Margo · April 5, 2014 at 7:31 pm
Sorry, just now realised you already featured Dominic Thiem 😉 have read your article about him of course. I’ve met him in Rotterdam this year and I think he is really a very nice person. Absolutely loved his performance against Andy Murray. Shame that he blew his DC debut, hope he’ll do better tomorrow!
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 7:37 pm
Thiem is a rising star. Even Ryan Harrison came out to see the second set of the match with Robredo (Thiem beat Rosol in the previous round in straight sets and Ryan lost to Rosol in Dallas Challenger the previous week). Bresnik’s friend Gabriel Norman, also a coach, told me about this year’s practice with Federer after he lost to Robredo. Fed and Edberg both had good things to say about Thiem. Edberg said he needs to work on his touch and feel. But Thiem had a rough weekend in Davis Cup, losing in singles to a guy I never heard of before, Gombos, and losing doubles from two sets up. But surely this adversity will make Thiem tougher and better. He will become a star player IMO.
gans · April 5, 2014 at 8:33 pm
Scoop, I saw Fed-Wawrinka play today. You got to give it to the Kazhaks- they played brilliant. But you are right about Fedrinka.
OK, Wawrinka played poorly, but Federer did nothing to inspire him- at least from what we see on TV. Both play such quiet and calm tennis to the point where it seems like boring and uninspiring. Not even worth writing. Tomorrow will be interesting.
gans · April 5, 2014 at 8:40 pm
Switz’s coach also seems to be bored or not know what to do. Maybe they should hire Leander Paes to coach them in Davis cup. India is not doing much in Davis cup anyway- so Leander may accept the offer.That will make a difference.
Cheers,
Doogie · April 5, 2014 at 9:28 pm
True scoop for their opponents its their career highlight (even for the Bryans this win was very special I can imagine).
A shame that a 17 GS winner cannot deal with the pressure against two nobodys – isn`t it??
How can anyone in the world live with the pressure of a DC tie if the greatest all time cannot??
Imo the reason they lost is, because Stan is clearly out of form and as scoop wrote their opponents played their heart out of it.
And they are not as good as everyone believe (in doubles).
Schuettler/Kiefer were surely not even close near the best doubles team but reached Olympic final too.
Just one tournament, just five matches.
4 years later Fedrinka lost against Ram/Erlich.
Btw:
What kind of pressure they had against Haase/Rojer?
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 10:24 pm
I think Doogie it’s the pressure of playing a highly motivated super charged team ready for the biggest match of their careers. While for Fedrinka it’s just another match they are supposed to win automatically. It’s a weird dynamic that John McEnroe struggled with Patrick. We sure don’t see Rafa playing dubs with Ferrer, Verdasco or Lopez. I saw Djokovic and Murray team up in Miami and they lost first round. Sampras and John McEnroe played dubs in Davis Cup and barely won a five setter over either a Swiss or Austrian team. SOme really strange things have happened in doubles – like the Bryans losing to Zimonjic and Bozoljac in Idaho.
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 10:27 pm
Gans I saw the replay again and Fed was trying to pump up Stan touching him and patting him, fist pumps, come ons, he was trying in an understated reserved way. It just didn’t work. It was a fascinating match IMO and well worth writing about. When Fed and Stan, two of the best players on earth today, team up for any event, it’s very newsworthy. Agree, tomorrow will be most fascinating.
Scoop Malinowski · April 5, 2014 at 10:29 pm
Gans, Agree about Luthi, he just seems like a friend in the chair, as far as I know he’s not qualified to say anything tactical or technical to Stan or Fed, and he doesn’t dare to try to either. He just sits there and claps and tries to look relaxed and stoic. He’s a really nice guy but let’s face it, the real captain who calls the shots for the Swiss team is Federer.
Dan Markowitz · April 5, 2014 at 10:45 pm
That’s why in my mind, Johnnie Mac is the greatest of all time. Can you imagine Mac losing a big DCup doubles match against the likes of the Kazacks? No way, he’d have either played too brilliantly or muddled up the entire match until the Kazacks had had enough. I didn’t see after the second set, but Federer was playing very uninspired tennis. He couldn’t return the backhand return on the deuce court and even Gimel and Pauly Annacone on the Tennis Channel were imploring him to move a little back or to one side to take away the handcuff serve down the middle.
If the Swiss lose this tie it will go down as the biggest upset in DCup history. I mean this Kazackhstan! Who’d ever heard of a Kazackh tennis player?
Doogie · April 5, 2014 at 11:18 pm
Why should Rafa not play dubs with Lopez or Verdasco??
Indeed once he played a daviscup rubber with Verdasco.
Rafa is a good doubles player (not a specialist oc but a good one).
Why he did not (playing in DC doubles) in last years with Lopez/Verdasco?
It simple was not necessary. ALL ties he played they were up 2:0.
Last tie he played with M.Lopez.
Doogie · April 5, 2014 at 11:23 pm
Once he played with F.Lopet too
Doogie · April 5, 2014 at 11:29 pm
@Dan
JMac was a god in doubles too.
It`s not fair to Fed to compare him with JMac in doubles.
Tennis changed too much and Fed is just not playing enough doubles to be better in it.
Imo if he plays more, he would have won today (even with Stan). He is not used playing doubles and doubles got an other sport in comparision to singles.
Dan Markowitz · April 6, 2014 at 6:43 am
But I was surprised how many missed backhand returns Fed made, especially on deuce court. I watched McEnroe play dubs many times, always playing the ad court, and he rarely missed a return, particularly on the backhand because his backswing was non-existent. Look at Sampras, not a great doubles player either, but he came up big in DCup doubles as well.
McEnroe is so good at doubles that at 55 at the Garden last month, he actually believed he could compete against the Bryan Bros. He couldn’t, but you could tell the way he walked out on the court, he believed he still could be the best player on the court.
Scoop Malinowski · April 6, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Doogie, Rafa rarely plays dubs anymore, he should do what Fed is doing and play some dubs now and again with his SPanish armada mates. He’s played with Hewitt and Fed and of course Marc Lopez. You gotta commend Fed for playings dubs with Stan, when no other top player really does it. Berd and Tsonga do sometimes too.
Scoop Malinowski · April 6, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Mac could play doubles back then because singles was not nearly as physically grueling. Did Mac continue to play doubles at majors even in his later years, like was he in the dubs draw when he got defaulted at Aussie Open?
Scoop Malinowski · April 6, 2014 at 4:58 pm
Well said Andrew. You were proven right, excellent bounce back by Stan and Fed. Stan overcome extreme adversity after losing first set and showed his true colors, the great champion we know he is. Roger was simply Roger in taking down the weekend wonder Golubev with another vintage display. Love the idea mentioned about Fedrinka bringing in a doubles specialist coach to help them with their stale tactics, someone like Rick Leach or Fed’s old pal Ellis Ferreira could sharpen up their doubles game. Welcome to the site Andrew.
Coach Skelly · April 6, 2014 at 11:33 pm
“There aint no Others like the Bryan Brothers!”
Andrew Burton · April 7, 2014 at 12:33 am
Thanks for the welcome, Scoop.
Man of the tie for me was Dias Doskaraev – the Kazakh captain. Heck of a job. Very nearly coached his lads to a famous victory.
But well done Severin Lüthi as well. Stan was shaky at times today, especially on the BH volley, which he was guiding. But clearly Lüthi (and maybe Fed) was able to prevent any demons Stan felt from Friday and Saturday from taking control today, even after that FH return sailed long in the first set TB.
Stan always had way more pop on his serve and groundies than Kukushkin. Over 5 sets, that advantage will nearly always tell, unless your opponent is way faster – which Kukushkin wasn’t.
Then Fed-Golubev was not without interest. What a joy to see two guys with attacking intent play gorgeous indoor tennis. When Fed leapt with joy (and relief) at the end of the match it recalled the photo at the end of Fed-Del Potro, RG SF 2009. Maybe also the skip after the Djokovic tweener, USO SF 2009. But what did Fed do next? Ran over and hugged Lüthi, THEN shook hands with Golubev, Doskaraev and Bernades.
Maybe Fed knew how much Lüthi had contributed to a Swiss team victory.
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2014 at 7:12 am
Good observation Andrew, Fed did immediately leap for joy and then embrace Luthi before shaking hands with Golubev, this did reflect very nicely on Luthi’s importance. You gotta love that Federer leap, it’s so nice to see him feeling that joy of winning even now in his later years. In the USA we really don’t know much about Luthi or his background, never see or read any interviews with him or about his background. I spoke with him briefly at a US Open qualies match where a Swiss was playing about three years ago and he could not have been nicer. Not much is known about Luthi, was a he a junior pal of Fed? Annacone said on Tennis Channel during the weekend that he still regularly keeps in touch with Fed and Sev. Seems like Sev is the highest ranking figure in the Fed camp, above Godsick, Mirka and Edberg. Luthi has been there from the beginning and you know he will be there to the end…also agree about the Kazakhstan captain was very impressed by his court demeanor and also his post match interviews with Craig Gabriel, very sharp classy respectful intelligent comments. He was not out of his league at all competing against the likes of Fed, Stan, Luthi. Well done and I’m sure well see more of Kazakhstan and Captain Double D.
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2014 at 7:12 am
Coach Skelly: Not even the Smothers Brothers? haha
Adrian · April 7, 2014 at 8:12 am
Usually, I’m all on the quiet as I’m simply not familiar enough with Tennis (I can’t even really play, for instance…) but I’m regularly checking out your most worthwile and diverting website – I always prefer walking off the beaten track and you’re doing a great job at providing a deeper insight and different viewpoints.
However, I’ve just come across a revealing article – one you may have already found, in which case I do apologize – about Severin Lüthi I don’t want to withhold from you(, Scoop).
Shazam, https://www.credit-suisse.com/ch/en/about-us/sponsorship/roger-federer/news/off-court.article.html/article/pwp/news-and-expertise/2012/07/en/coach-severin-luethi-roger-federers-rock.html
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2014 at 10:08 am
Hi Adrian, thanks so much for sharing this feature about Luthi (and for your kind words about our site). Maybe Federer should give him more credit for his contributions. May have missed it but Fed rarely gives much public mention to Luthi, but of course actions and loyalty speak louder than words. Pretty impressive that Luthi has an Orange Bowl junior win over Kuerten and was a hitting partner for Hingis. Switzerland are going to be the heavy sentimental favorites to win the Davis Cup and it sure will be nice to see them all celebrate it. But it won’t be easy to beat Italy, France or Czech Rep. especially when the pressure and magnitude of the moment starts to hit. Still think Luthi should hire a doubles champ like Rich Leach or Ellis Ferreira as a consultant for Team Switzerland to sharpen up Fedrinka’s doubles acumen.
Dan Markowitz · April 7, 2014 at 11:38 am
What was the deal with the French playing Benneteau at singles in the first matches and not Monfils? Gael came in and saved the day, but Monfils is maybe the best singles player the French have, especially in Davis Cup, over the flagging Tsonga and the fragile Gasquet.
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2014 at 11:59 am
Not sure Dan, maybe they wanted to save him to be fully fresh for reverse singles. Clement is a shrewd captain, a fresh Monfils vs. a Gojo coming off the biggest win of his career and probably most physically grueling, was a favorable matchup for France. Also, you just know Monfils loves being centerstage with everything on the line. Monfils shined in this match too, never saw him so fired up before. This match was La Monf at his best. Benneteau is a solid player but he’s 0-9 in ATP finals. Who knows what provokes captains to make their decisions. Remember Spadea not getting his shot with PMac? How about the healthy Corretja the highest ranking Spaniard sitting on the bench in the first singles match of the 2000 final in Barcelona vs. Australia (A Costa played the young Hewitt and lost).
Dan Markowitz · April 7, 2014 at 3:31 pm
Benny’s been playing well. He beat Gulbis and Tsonga in IW and Miami. But if I’m captaining the French DCup team I’m going with Monfils and Tsonga in both singles matches and then if healthy, Gasquet, Simon and Benny in that order.
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2014 at 4:11 pm
For whatever reason Gasquet was left off the roster by Clement, but Gasquet still shows up anyway to support his ‘mates. (Wish USA had such team spirit.) France’s four man roster vs. Germany was Jo, La Monf, Benneteau and Llodra.
Doogie · April 7, 2014 at 4:42 pm
My few cents:
@ Benneteau playing:
I believe it was amicable selection from his “old” friend Clement to let him play on Friday infront of a sell out crowd. Benne always flied under the radar but is a huge team player and an important member for this team.
Probably Clement thought Germany would not win one rubber anyway as they came in with their third string. And even if Benne would lose, JO losing to Gojo was out of their mind.
The mistake was that DC is always different and the 0:2 after day 1 was a shocker for France.
Clement should have known better.
@DC coaches:
Very good point about Kaz`s captain!!
The role of the captain is generally underestimated by public view.
But he has so much influence about the outcome of a tie!
Choice of surface, indoor/outdoor, choice of the 4 players and who to match up who in singles is just soo important.
As example:
Mecir (Slovak Republik) just outcoached our Austrian captain, who is a joke.
Also Navratil is also BIG, BIG part of their success. I watched the dead rubbers on Sunday and Navratil handled it like it was a 2:2 match.
Both players fought for the win in their single match!
Respect to Navratil and Doskaraev.
@Fed:
What a great match it was! The first two sets were on a high level with a lot of emotions!! Fun to watch and great advertisment for Davis Cup.
Doogie · April 7, 2014 at 4:43 pm
@Gasquet:
He is dealing with an injury since start of year (back issues) and as wrote, they were sure to win this tie anyway. In a DC final he surely would have been on roster.
Scoop Malinowski · April 7, 2014 at 9:24 pm
Benneteau did well in dubs with the always awesome Llodra. Like that anecdote about the dead rubber being played with full intensity of a live match. That’s how much the Czech team respects Davis Cup. Don’t know much about Navratil but he must be a super captain, he’s always around every big tournament I go to for like over a decade. He’s one of those faces who is always around his Czech players. There are also lighter moments in DC. Killer Cahill told me a story of Yannick Noah doing the moonwalk during a live Davis Cup match vs. Australia. Pretty funny.