Roddick and Fish to lead U.S. against Sweden in Davis Cup
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-30 11:08

Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish have been named to lead the United States against Sweden in next month's Davis Cup quarter-finals.

Andy Roddick hits a forehand during his fourth round match against Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, March 29, 2004. Roddick and Mardy Fish have been named to lead the United States against Sweden in next month's Davis Cup quarter-finals. [AP]

Twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the world's top ranked doubles team, were also selected to the squad announced by captain Patrick McEnroe on Monday for the tie scheduled for April 9-11 at Delray Beach in Florida.

"I'm looking forward to another outstanding team effort from our guys against a tough team from Sweden," said McEnroe in a statement.

"Our team is unified, excited with the challenge at hand and committed in our quest to bring the Davis Cup back to the United States for the first time since 1995."

The backbone of recent American Davis Cup efforts, Roddick's selection comes as no surprise, the U.S. Open champion and former world number one bringing a 10-3 record into the tie.

However, McEnroe's selection of Fish over Vince Spadea did raise some eyebrows.

While Fish sits at 17 in the world rankings, the 29-year-old Spadea is playing some of the best tennis of his career.

FIRST TITLE

He claimed his first title earlier this month in Scottsdale and upset former U.S. Open champion and this year's Australian Open finalist Marat Safin at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami on Saturday.

"Obviously, Vince has had an incredible couple weeks and made it very difficult for me based on his play recently, especially," said McEnroe.

"That being said, Mardy's had the best results over anyone by far in the last year, particularly in the last six months.

"He (Fish) is just not playing particularly well over here, but, overall, he's still playing pretty well this year.

"My goal as the captain for the last three and a half years has been to build the team for the future and to build a team with our best young players.

"The young guys are a good, close-knit group. They enjoy the experience. They enjoy being around each other.

"I do think that counts for something."

Sweden and the U.S. have met 10 times in Davis Cup competition, the Americans holding a 7-3 advantage.

But the Swedes swept past the Americans 5-0 in their last meeting at the 1997 final in Gothenburg and come into the quarter-finals on the back of their shock 4-1 first round upset of holders Australia in Adelaide in February.

Swedish captain Mats Wilander said on Monday he would bring the same lineup to Florida -- Thomas Enqvist, Jonas Bjorkman, Joachim Johansson and Robin Soderling -- along with a fifth player in Thomas Johansson.

"I think the strength of the Swedish team is we have five players, and they can all play singles," explained Wilander.

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