Tennis Week: American Starters Set For Final

The United States and defending champion Russia will face off for the Davis Cup championship in Portland this weekend and both nations will encounter rough roads in bidding to book a return trip to the final next year. The Americans will have to navigate a red-clay path in the 2008 opening-round against host Austria in Vienna. Russia will host a Serbian squad that should feature third-ranked Novak Djokovic as well as tattooed terror Janko Tipsarevic.

The International Tennis Federation today announced the first-round venues for the 2008 Davis Cup World Group. The venues and surfaces are listed here:

• USA at Austria — Ferry Dusika Hallenstadion, Vienna, Austria on indoor clay
• Serbia at Russia — Small Sports Arena “Luzhniki”, Moscow, Russia indoor surface to be confirmed
• Belgium at Czech Republic — CEZ Arena, Ostrava, Czech Republic on indoor carpet
• Great Britain at Argentina — Estadio Parque Roca, Buenos Aires, Argentina on outdoor clay
• Sweden at Israel — Canada Stadium, Ramat Hasharon, Israel on outdoor hard court
• Korea at Germany — Volkswagen Halle Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany on indoor clay
• Spain at Peru — Details to be confirmed (ITF granted Peru an extension until November 30 to finalize details)
• France at Romania — Details to be confirmed

The first round of the 16-nation World Group will be held February 8-10, with the quarterfinals taking place April 11-13 April.

The semifinals, and playoff ties for the 2009 World Group, will be held September 19-21. The 2008 Davis Cup final will be contested November 21-23, a week earlier in the schedule than this year’s final.

An American team of Andy Roddick, James Blake and twins Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan is firmly focused on this weekend’s title clash on a fast hard court in Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. It marks the USA’s first home final since 1992 when an American dream team scored a 3-1 victory over Switzerland to capture the Cup in Forth Worth, Texas. That squad featured superstars Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and John McEnroe on a team so strong Sampras did not crack the starting singles lineup. The young Roddick was in the crowd for that final blowing an air-horn in an effort to support the team and fire-up the crowd.

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