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USTA selects Davis Cup venue

October 16, 2012

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier announced today that Jacksonville, Fla. has been selected as the site for the 2013 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first-round match between the United States and Brazil, February 1-3. The matches will be played at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, which will have an expected capacity of approximately 13,000.

The event is being organized, staged and promoted by the USTA. Tickets will go on sale to the general public in early December. For more information, fans can call the U.S. Davis Cup hotline at (888) 484-8782 or visit usta.com/daviscup.

“There is nothing like playing Davis Cup in your home country and Jacksonville will be a great venue when we host Brazil next year,” said Courier who led the United States to the semifinals this year in his second season as U.S. Davis Cup Captain. “We were very happy to draw a home match. This could be a great opportunity for players like John (Isner), Sam (Querrey) and Ryan (Harrison) to experience a home court advantage for the first time in their Davis Cup careers.”

This will be just the second home match as U.S. Davis Cup Captain for Florida native Courier. The U.S. played all three of its matches on the road this year posting wins over Roger Federer’s Swiss team and France before losing to Spain in the semifinals.

The matchup with Brazil will be the first home tie for the U.S. since the 2011 quarterfinals in Austin, Texas, and just the third home tie for the U.S. since 2009. In that time, the U.S. team has played seven road matches — all on clay.

The best-of-five match series begins Friday, Feb. 1, with two singles matches, featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Saturday’s schedule features the pivotal doubles match, and the final day of play on Sunday includes two “reverse singles” matches, where the No. 1 players square off followed by the No. 2 players going head-to-head. All matches are best-of-five sets until one country wins three matches.

“Hosting the Davis Cup competition represents a great opportunity for our city to receive the global attention it deserves,” said Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown. “The word is getting out: Jacksonville is a premier city for major sporting events. Our selection emerged from a highly-competitive process and it goes to show that we have the staff, facilities and experience to create a marquee experience to delight the thousands of fans headed our way.”

“The Davis Cup is one of the top tennis events in the world and we’re very proud to be hosting the first round in Jacksonville,” said Alan Verlander, executive director of sports & entertainment for the City of Jacksonville. “We have a tremendous tennis community that is eager to engage in a first-class tennis event at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.”

This match will mark the fifth meeting between the U.S. and Brazil in Davis Cup. The U.S. leads the overall series 3-1 with its last victory against Brazil coming in the 1997 first round in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil when Courier and MaliVai Washington led the U.S. to a 4-1 win.

The U.S. is 109-16 all-time in Davis Cup ties played at home and undefeated in Florida (6-0). This will be the seventh Davis Cup tie played in the state of Florida and first since the U.S. defeated Sweden, 4-1, in the 2004 quarterfinal at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.

Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage of the U.S. vs. Brazil Davis Cup match.

The site selection is subject to final approval by the International Tennis Federation.

The winner of the United States and Brazil will face either Serbia or Belgium in the quarterfinals, April 5-7. Should the U.S. advance, they would host the quarterfinal match.

Founded in 1900, Davis Cup is the world’s largest annual international men’s team competition with 122 nations competing this year. The U.S. leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles. The United States holds a 212-66 all-time Davis Cup record and owns the longest uninterrupted run in the World Group, dating back to 1989.

For more information, including access to player and historical Davis Cup records, please go to usta.com/daviscup or daviscup.com.

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