Biel, Switzerland – Swiss Tennis is hoping to set a new attendance record and break the mark claimed by France in last month's Davis Cup finals loss to the visiting Swiss with Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
It may take some doing to beat the 27,448 spectators who fronted up in Lille in November for the final played under a temporary roof in a football stadium.
Swiss officials say they've already been scouting their own stadiums in Berne, Basel and St. Gallen in the hope of staging a potential 2015 quarter-final at home. The plan depends on a Swiss win in the March first round over Belgium.
Swiss Tennis president René Stammbach told Sportinformation that he hopes the record can be set if his nation face either Canada or Japan at home the week after Wimbledon in July. Swiss success depends almost entirely on the presence of Federer and Wawrinka.
So far, the 33-year-old Federer, ranked second to the fourth of Wawrinka, is keeping his scheduling for next season wide open, and has not released a calendar past next month's Australian Open.
Federer said that his schedule will be determined by both his fitness and how well he can fight to take back the number one ranking from Novak Djokovic while holding off number three Rafael Nadal.
Swiss officials hope to set up seats for between 29,000 and 32,000 fans to try and break the informal attendance record. – Sapa-dpa