Davis Cup dollars not the lure for Federer

Mar 26, 2009, 15:20 GMT

Miami - Roger Federer says that his commitment for Swiss Davis Cup play certainly doesn't turn on a huge payday.

The number 2 is happy to play for relative pocket change - as long as the event does not conflict with his fitness or career goals.

'Honestly I never heard of money being the issue here, why players are not playing,' he said of the lack of big names who consistently compete in the worldwide team event.

'Sometimes I walk away with 5,000 or 10,000 dollars.

'It's not that I play or not play because of the money - I'm beyond that point.'

Federer, seeded second at the Miami Masters, all but said that today's tennis millionaires cannot be swayed, even by the lure of up to 100,000 dollars a match, which he estimated that some top teams like the US or France can pay their men.

It's not like that for Switzerland, whose banks control one third or so of the world's entire wealth but the tennis federation lives on peanuts.

'I get paid very little when I play Davis Cup because our federation is small and doesn't have much money. We don't get paid like maybe the Americans do or the French do. We get 50 or 100 grand each match plus prize money or whatever.'

Federer said it's all about the timing of Davis play. 'It's the problem with the weeks. I can't focus on No. 1 in the world, trying to win the Grand Slams, trying to win Masters Series, and then also trying to win Davis Cup.

'It's just been too much, so something had to give. I decided Davis Cup was the one thing I was not going to play in February. If they would make to quarters, I would then maybe get back into the team. But it never happened in five years, so there you go.

He skipped Switzerland's March date with the US due to a sore back, a tie where the Americans eliminated the visitors.