Federer feuds with Hlasek

The opponents for the Netherlands will be decided by tomorrow's reverse singles, with France holding a 2-1 lead over Switzerland going into the final day. In the first round in February, Switzerland had ridden on the shoulders of teenage sensation Roger Federer to upset the U.S.A., as the 19-year-old won both of his singles matches and participated in a doubles triumph as well.

Whereas Federer's heroics were unexpected in February, this time around he felt the pressure to repeat his exploits against a strong and deep French side. French captain Guy Forget knew this, and surprisingly selected Nicolas Escudé, who had had success against Roger in the past, expressly to stop the young star. Federer turned in a nervous, sub-par performance, and Forget's gamble paid off as Federer wilted under the pressure applied by his French nemesis.

Perhaps showing the strain placed on him by the weighty burden of being the nation's great hope at age 19, Federer surprising lashed out at his captain, Jakob Hlasek, after the match, implicitly blaming his captain for the loss. "It's no fun to play for him," Federer told the surprised press corps. "I want a captain I can share things with. The former number one Swiss players were able to choose their captain, like Rosset with Oberer or Hlasek with Deniau. But they impose him on me. I am number one and I have no influence."

Federer pulled himself together the next day, participating in a narrow doubles win that kept the Swiss alive. But he was far from repentant about his earlier comments after the match. "I don't regret anything I said yesterday," Federer began to say, before his doubles partner Lorenzo Manta, who had obviously had enough of the divisive bickering, interrupted his young teammate. "We have to stop all this," intoned Manta. "For now, the problem is settled. We'll talk about it again after the tie."

Hlasek's job appears to be on thin ice now, especially if France wins the tie tomorrow. Hlasek has had a long-running and very public feud with Swiss #2 Marc Rosset, and now it seems a wound has opened in his relationship with Federer as well. In many countries the top player or players dictate, or at least influence, the choice of captain. Recall that at the end of the 1999 season the Spanish players successfully insisted on the ouster of Manuel Santana, who was replaced as captain by a committee compo sed of the players' personal coaches. The formula was a success, temporarily at least, as Spain promptly won its first-ever Davis Cup title in 2000.

It will be interesting to see if the Swiss also decide to let the inmates run the prison, as it were!