I'll address my parenthetical thought in a sec.
First a little something about Marco.
The 28 year-old surging Swiss player is currently ranked #54 and is the 3rd ranked Swiss behind Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.
Marco began playing professional tennis in 1999 and for the last ten years has mainly played challenger and future level tournaments - keeping his ranking in the 150-250 range.
Suddenly last year he caught some fire with a 3rd round showing at the US Open and a few other decent results pocked in the second half of '09.
Marco does not have many points to defend before Wimbledon, mainly because he didn't play any tour level events. With a guaranteed direct entry into Indian Wells, Miami, the clay events in Europe and the next two Slams he is in a good position to bump his ranking into the 30's.
Today helped. At the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam Marco defeated Michael Llodra, 61 67(5) 76(6).
Now hear me out on my theory that Marco may be the answer to Roger Federer's Davis Cup woes.
With Roger Federer opting to sit out the 1st round tie next month in Spain on clay he almost certainly gives Switzerland the loss.
Roger shows up in September to make sure they play in the World Group in 2011. With losses in the last tie of the countries of his main rivals he will have to face them on his home turf and on the surface of his liking. He ought to like that!
With Chiudinelli surging it's not hard to see Federer and Wawrinka teaming with him to make a formidable Davis Cup team. Roger might even be able sit on the sidelines for the doubles match.
A Davis Cup title would fill in one of the FEW gaps Roger actually has on his resume. Maybe he hasn't that that far ahead but I think its genius.
Photos: From today's match in Rotterdam - Getty Images
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