It seems then that the benchmark for greatness is number of Grand Slams won – equivalent to majors in golf. That has been determined by the public, media, sponsors and players alike. Contrast that to rugby and cricket and you will find that greatness is determined by how well you perform for your country.

The reality is that the importance of Davis Cup (and alarmingly Olympics) comes second after Grand Slams…. “HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM!” Surely the pinnacle of any sport should be to play for your country? Well I agree but it does not happen that way in tennis.

So how can a national tennis association that has no money attract its players to play for its country when the best interest for the players lies with the ATP World Tour and ultimately the Grand Slams? The answer, fatefully, is they can’t. Some countries like the USA and GB can pay its players a fortune to make sure that it can attract its best players and even then they don’t always get their best players. French players take home a percentage of the tickets that they sell for matches – and still players make themselves available only intermittently. I once spoke to Wayne Bryan (father of #1 doubles team in the world - Bob and Mike Bryan) and he asked me how much I made from Davis Cup, he laughed when I told him and he said that Bob and Mike would never play Davis Cup for the USA for so little. Not even the Americans are patriotic enough to play for their country without good financial reward!

So here I am missing the South African Davis Cup tie in Johannesburg because I was available on condition that I was given a business class ticket to and from South Africa for the tie. This was so I could improve my chances to perform well in an important ATP event in California the following week. If I played Davis Cup without a business class ticket, I would have had to fly economy for approximately 57 hrs over 17 days to get to all the tournaments that I needed to play and to finally arrive in California a day after playing Davis Cup in Johannesburg. I can imagine how Graham Smith would perform – both on and off the field – if he was asked to do that. Top that off with a severe pay cut and sometimes an almost non-existent crowd and I’m sure he would have a different experience of playing for his country.

Cricket and Rugby players make their career by playing for their country – that is where they make their money from. Nobody labels them unpatriotic for accepting rather large sums of money to play for their country. Can it be fair to therefore expect a tennis player to interrupt his career to make a loss, both financially and in ranking points to play for his country with disregard for what is best for him personally? After all, if he cannot perform on the ATP Tour, he’ll have to find a job and play Davis Cup if his work allowed him time off.

Nobody seems to realise the sacrifices that South African tennis players are expected to make – and have made in the past to play for their country. Wayne Ferreira, at times, gave up huge appearance fees (called, ‘guarantees’) at ATP events to play for South Africa for relative peanuts.  Unfortunately, national tennis associations worldwide are always going to rely on a players’ conscience and if possible, big money, to get them to play Davis Cup.

Yes, I do want to play for my country regardless, but unfortunately the success of my career is solely determined by the ATP Tour and Grand Slams. That is where my primary source of income lies and that is where I have to strive to succeed. Call me unpatriotic and self-centred….I apologise. I love South Africa but I can’t make a living by playing for my country. Graham Smith probably dreamt of beating Australia at the MCG in the Boxing Day test as a boy – I had a laminated newspaper on my wall with a fake headline which read, “Wesley Moodie Wins Wimbledon in Straight Sets” – okay, so I was dreaming about being Singles Champion but it was nevertheless very special to win the doubles in four sets….