Another Chance: Andy vs. Youzhny

Andy and James kept coming up to us and saying, ‘Give us a chance, give us another shot, let us redeem ourselves.’,” Bob Bryan said following USA’s doubles victory against Russia Saturday. And that is exactly what Team USA has; another shot. Andy, James and the Bryans may be facing some heavy odds, Russia has not lost hat home in 10 years. But they are drawing inspiration from Pete Sampras who won three matches in the same stadium to give team USA their last Davis Cup title in 1995, and both Andy and James agree: there is nothing like a great comeback story!

Andy will lead the charge as he takes on Youzhny first on Sunday. This decisive match comes only weeks after the two faced off in the Semi-Finals at the US Open. Andy and Youzhny have played five times before. Andy has the slight edge, 3-2. This will be the first time they compete on clay and the home crowd and surface are heavily in Mikhail’s favor, but as Andy has said before “Davis Cup is a different animal.”

Here are some stats on Youzhny courtesy of the ATP:

Birthdate: 25-Jun-82
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Residence: Moscow, Russia
Height: 6’0’’ (182 cm)
Weight: 160 lbs (72 kg)
Plays: Right-handed
Turned Pro: 1999
Coach: Boris Sobkin
Current INDESIT ATP Ranking – Singles: 54
Career High INDESIT ATP Ranking – Singles: 15 (1/10/2005)
Current Stanford ATP Doubles Ranking: 52
Career High Stanford ATP Doubles Ranking: 44 (10/17/2005)

Check back to andyroddick.com for updates from Moscow.