Dubai: World number two Roger Federer has decided against playing for Switzerland as they begin their title defence in the Davis Cup next week.

Federer guided his country to a historic first title with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Richard Gasquet that sealed a 3-1 victory against France in the 2014 final in front of a world record crowd of 27,448 in Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy in November.

The result put Switzerland in the history books as just the 14th nation to win the Davis Cup trophy in the competition’s 115-year history.

Switzerland will return to action against Belgium on March 6, but without the services of Federer and world number seven Stanislas Wawrinka.

And the 33-year-old Federer had no qualms when asked about his absence.

“No, it wasn’t a difficult decision. I have played for so long and I think by winning the Davis Cup I can finally do whatever I please, to be quite honest,” the Swiss ace told media after his first round win over Mikhail Youzhny in the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open late on Monday.

A major part of the decision by Federer — the father of two sets of twins — comes down to a constant struggle to manage his schedule.

“It [the Davis Cup] has been a big burden for me throughout my career and one of the things that has caused more difficulties in my life than many other things, I must say, because I always feel there is so much guilt put on you from the [Swiss] federation or from the ITF.

“So I’m happy I was able to finally tick that [winning the trophy] off and do it altogether.

“I mean, I didn’t do it just for that. I totally did it for the boys more than for me, to be quite honest. I just really wanted Michael [Lammer, with whom he is playing the doubles in Dubai] and Marco [Chiudinelli] and Stan [Wawrinka] to get it because they deserve it. So for me this year it was very clear that I was not going to play anymore after this win, but I have to see how things go.”

That said, Federer was hopeful Wawrinka would be around to play for the team. However, Switzerland’s No. 2 player has chosen to sit out the Belgium match without giving any clues as to whether he would return for the rest of the season.

“I hope that Stan is going to play, you know, next round or September or whatever, it’s going to be to keep us in the World Group,” Federer said. “Who knows? You never know if they can win it without us. It’s an opportunity, but clearly we are not the favourites now playing against Belgium.

“But I’m sorry for the team because the team is pretty much intact, from the staff, captain and everybody. They are all some of my best friends, so that was the tougher part of it, less than the tennis itself.”