As Davis Cup fever takes hold in Switzerland, Stanislas Wawrinka says his big goal after winning the Australian Open is winning the team competition.
With Roger Federer rejoining the team this year, Switzerland is the favorite, particularly with perennial contender Spain going out in the first round and two-time defending champion Czech Republic without Tomas Berdych for away ties.
With Federer and Wawrinka, Switzerland can now call on two Top 5 players, who together are also an effective doubles combination.
Their participation has been reflected in ticket sales for the quarterfinal tie against Kazakhstan next month, with capacity in the Geneva stadium being expanded to 15,900, with 85 percent of tickets sold as of last week.
While Federer has generally restricted his Davis Cup participation to playoff ties, Wawrinka has been the mainstay for Switzerland during the past few years. He is looking to capitalize on having a full-strength team this year.
"There is one goal that I have since many years. It's the Davis Cup," said Wawrinka. "Now Roger is playing, so we know that we are a strong team to do something. We'll need to be careful, but we have a good chance to make a big result this year, and that's so far the most important."
Should Switzerland advance, it would play its semifinal against either Great Britain or Italy. Final-round opponents could be France, Germany, Japan or the Czech Republic.