Andy Roddick To Lead United States In Davis Cup

Lawn Tennis, Paris Open, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Andy Roddick To Lead United States In Davis Cup
By Anton Lagani, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Thursday, March 5, 2009 6:19pm PST USA

Andy Roddick of the USA, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, Davis Cup, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Birmingham--(lawntennismag.com) After capturing his first ATP Tour singles title of the year two weeks ago in Memphis, Andy Roddick of the USA will look to place his country into a winning position this weekend when the USA meets Switzerland in the Davis Cup.

The 26 year old Roddick opened his year by reaching the Doha final before finishing as semifinalist at the Australian Open in Melbourne and at San Jose. Roddick, ranked 6th, lost in Melbourne to the second ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland 6-2, 7-5, 7-5. The American may have thanked his lucky stars when Federer was forced to withdraw with a bad back as he trails Federer head to head 2-16.

February in the Memphis final, Roddick defeated the 18th ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 7-5, 7-5. In 2003 the big serving American topped the ATP Tour rankings two months after he won his lone singles grand slam title at the US Open.

Joining Roddick in singles play for the United States is the 13th ranked James Blake. The US is to host on hardcourts at Birmingham, Alabama. The 29 year old Blake is scheduled to open play Friday versus Stanislas Wawrinka, ranked 16th. Roddick is to follow versus Marco Chiudinelli, ranked 341st.

Andy Roddick of the USA, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland | Image: AP

Andy Roddick may have thanked his lucky stars when Roger Federer was forced to withdraw with a bad back as he trails Federer head to head 2-16.

Roddick has never faced Chiudinelli. Blake is 0-2 versus Wawrinka; however both losses occurred on claycourts.

Needless to say with Federer's withdrawal, the Americans' odds for victory were dramatically increased. Saturday, the USA will face Switzerland in doubles and then finally in reverse singles on Sunday in the best of five matches competition.

“I think after Roger pulled out, for sure we’re not the favorites any more,” Swiss captain Severin Luthi said. “We’re the outsiders, but we’re comfortable in this situation. For sure we didn’t come here to lose. We’re going to do the maximum and try to win this tie.”

This is the third meeting between the two countries with the USA defeating Switzerland in the 1992 final. Switzerland beat the USA in the first round in 2001.

The Davis Cup - First Round – March 6-8
United States versus Switzerland

Friday
James Blake (USA) v Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
Andy Roddick (USA) v Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)

Saturday
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) v Yves Allegro/Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)

Sunday
Andy Roddick (USA) v Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
James Blake (USA) v Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)

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