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Roddick, Blake, and Bryans to Face Switzerland in 2009 Davis Cup

February 24, 2009

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe announced today that world No. 6 Andy Roddick, No. 13 James Blake and the world’s top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan will represent the United States in the 2009 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round match against Switzerland, March 6-8, on an indoor hard court at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena in Birmingham, Ala. The event is being organized, staged and promoted by the USTA.

This is the eleventh time in the last 12 matches that McEnroe will use the same lineup. The U.S. record of 10 consecutive Davis Cup ties with the same roster came to an end during last year’s semifinal against Spain. McEnroe originally nominated the same four players, but Blake and Bob Bryan were replaced by Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish, respectively.

“Our guys have once again answered the call and are ready to accept the challenge of representing their country,” said Patrick McEnroe, who has led the U.S. to a 15-7 record since taking over as Captain in 2001. “The dynamic of the match changed when Roger (Federer) had to pull out last week, but we are not going to take the Swiss lightly.”

Tennis Channel will air live coverage each day, starting at 1 p.m. ET daily.

Switzerland nominated world No. 17 Stanislas Wawrinka, No. 147 Stephane Bohli, No. 433 Macro Chiudinelli and doubles specialist Yves Allegro for this first round match.

This will be the third meeting between the United States and Switzerland in Davis Cup. The series is tied 1-1 with Switzerland winning the last meeting in the 2001 first round in Basel. The U.S. won its first match against the Swiss at the 1992 Davis Cup Final in Forth Worth, Texas.

The U.S. vs. Switzerland winner will face either Croatia or Chile in the Davis Cup quarterfinals July 10-12. Should the United States defeat Switzerland, it would be on the road against either Croatia or Chile.

The opening day of play in the best-of-five match series features each country’s No. 1 singles player against the No. 2 player from the opposing country. The pivotal doubles match is played Saturday, followed by Sunday’s “reverse singles,” starting with each country’s No. 1 player squaring off followed by the No. 2 players in the fifth and final match.

Roddick, 26, has a 29-11 record since joining the team in 2001, including a career-best nine-match winning streak from the 2006 quarterfinal against Chile to the 2008 quarterfinal versus France. The 29 singles victories places him third all-time for the U.S. Davis Cup team, trailing only John McEnroe (41) and Andre Agassi (30). He was undefeated in six matches to lead the U.S. to the 2007 Davis Cup title – its first since 1995. Roddick has been the No. 1 player for the U.S. in all but two appearances – his debut at the 2001 Davis Cup first round at Switzerland and the 2002 Davis Cup first round win over the Slovak Republic (behind Pete Sampras) in Oklahoma City. He has played in 22 Davis Cup ties for the United States, missing just one match (due to injury) since joining the team.

Blake, 29, has a 20-9 overall record in Davis Cup (17-8 in singles, 3-1 in doubles), having represented the United States in 15 ties over the past seven years. Blake turned professional after completing his sophomore season at Harvard as the No. 1 player in college tennis. In 2001, he became the first former Harvard student to represent the U.S. in Davis Cup in 75 years. Dwight Davis, then a senior at Harvard, founded the Davis Cup competition in 1900.

Bob Bryan, 30, half of the world top-ranked doubles team, holds a 14-2 record in Davis Cup doubles with twin brother, Mike, and is 3-2 in singles. The Bryans are tied for first all-time in U.S. Davis Cup history with 14 doubles wins as a team and are the only brothers to pair in victory for the team. They have won 51 tour-level doubles titles together, making them the most successful sibling doubles team in the Open Era. Bob also owns five major mixed doubles titles. He won the French Open and Wimbledon with Victoria Azarenka and Samantha Stosur, respectively, last year, and the US Open with three different partners – Katarina Srebotnik (2003), Vera Zvonareva (2004) and Martina Navratilova (2006).

Mike Bryan, 30, has played every doubles match for the U.S. Davis Cup team since he and his twin brother, Bob, joined the team in September 2003. Mike holds a 15-2 record in doubles, one more win than his brother, after partnering Mardy Fish in the 2008 semifinal, against Spain – the only time either brother played doubles in Davis Cup without his sibling. The Bryan brothers currently share the No. 1 doubles ranking and finished three of the past four years as the top-ranked doubles team in the world. They are coming off of their seventh career major doubles title having won the Australian Open last month. Mike has 53 career ATP doubles titles and won the 2002 US Open and 2003 French Open mixed doubles titles with Lisa Raymond.

Founded in 1900, the Davis Cup is the world’s largest annual international men’s team competition with 125 nations competing this year. The U.S. leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles.

Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Davis Cup team.