Federer the lone elite in Davis Cup
Roger Federer will be the only member of the tennis elite to strike a ball during this weekend's World Group first round ties as his rivals take a break at the start of the 2012 Davis Cup campaign.
The world No 3 will lead Switzerland in the fray from Friday against a depleted US side on indoor clay laid down at the Forum Fribourg in the west of the confederation.
Missing the from the competition will be world No 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Spain's Rafael Nadal and Britain's Andy Murray, all either resting or nursing injuries from the Australian Open which ended just over a week ago with a six-hour marathon win by Djokovic over Nadal.
Djokovic, who lifted the Laureus sportsman of the year award this week in London, will sit it out as his 2010 championship nation opens with a tie at home on indoor hardcourt in Nis against Sweden, with Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki, Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic carrying the load.
Nadal is out by choice for all of February to rest the shoulder injury which bothered him during late 2011, though which was not in evidence during his run to the Australian Open final against Djokovic.
Spain play in Oviedo on clay against Kazakhstan, with new captain Alex Corretja making his debut with Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers, former No 1 Carlos Ferrero and Nadal's mate Marc Lopez on court. Britain without Murray is involved in European zonal play.
The Swiss have decent chances against the US, with the Americans minus injured Andy Roddick and new father Bob Bryan.
Swiss captain and Federer coach Severin Luthi will have his 16-time Grand Slam champion onside, backed up by Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer. The US is bringing No 8 Mardy Fish and John Isner in singles along with backup Ryan Harrison and specialist Mike Bryan for doubles.
The Swiss stand 1-2 in the series, which included the 1992 final won by the US in Texas. The Americans own a record 32 titles but have achieved only one of those in the past 16 years.
"I'm really looking forward to this encounter, all the more so given that we can play in Switzerland," said Federer. "(Clay was) undoubtedly the right decision, even if it's unusual to suddenly be playing on clay in February.
"The US certainly have a team that can beat us, however. All their players are dangerous, in the singles and in the doubles."
American captain Jim Courier is wary of the away tie, saying: "It's a big challenge with Fed and Wawrinka in front of us. We'll be ready to fire come match time.
"We have the toughest draw you can have in Davis Cup. It's the ultimate test. It's going to be a big battle, but we have nothing to lose. We have to go out and lay it on the line and we know we are underdogs, but we'll give it a rip."
In other ties to start a busy year which is made even more hectic by the London Olympics, Austria face Russia in Wiener Neustadt led by Jurgen Melzer while Russia boast new citizen Alex Bogomolov (ex-US) onside along with Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko.
Canada debut in the elite grouping for in Vancouver as the hosts count on number Top 30 threat Milos Raonic and doubled legend Daniel Nestor against France, whose star Gael Monfils complained of more knee pain during a weekend ATP finals loss in Montpellier.
The Czech Republic led by Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek play newly promoted Italy while Japan play host to Croatia. 2011 runner-up Argentina face Germany away in Bamberg with the South American visitors missing number 10 Juan Del Potro.