Federer takes on Hewitt in second Davis Cup rubber

Federer takes on Hewitt in second Davis Cup rubber Familiar foes Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt will take the court for a Davis Cup singles rubber on Friday in Sydney. Federer is playing less than a week after losing in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt will be squaring off for the 26th time in their careers on Friday when they clash in the second singles rubber of the Davis Cup playoff tie between Switzerland and Australia.

Federer leads the head-to-head series 17-8, including 3-2 on grass. However, they faced each other most recently in last year's Halle title match and Hewitt prevailed 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

Both men head into this meeting with question marks. At 30 years old, Hewitt is struggling with injuries and appears to be slowing down in a hurry. The world No. 199 compiled a 1-2 record on American hard courts this summer and skipped the U.S. Open following a first-round exit in Winston-Salem.

Federer is in fine form, but he is making a quick turnaround after losing to Novak Djokovic last Saturday in the Open semifinals. The third-ranked Swiss looked great in fourth-round and quarterfinal blowouts of Juan Monaco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and he held two match points against the eventual champion before going down 7-5 in the fifth set.

"He's a great champion, we know that, and for sure it's always better if you have more days," Switzerland captain Severin Luthi said of Federer. "But I'm sure that he can handle this and be ready on Friday."

To say Federer can handle this would be an understatement. While Hewitt is a shadow of his former self, Federer is still going strong at 30. The 16-time Grand Slam champion has still won 15 of the last 16 against Hewitt despite dropping their most recent encounter.