TENNIS

MARCH 22 2007 00:17h

Roddick And Blake Head U.S. Davis Cup team

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Andy Roddick, James Blake and the doubles pair of Bob and Mike Bryan will form the U.S. Davis Cup team.

They will host Spain next month in the quarter-finals, captain Patrick McEnroe said on Wednesday.

The tie will be played indoors at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on April 6-8.

The competition will be a rematch of the 2004 Davis Cup Final, which Spain won 3-2 over the visiting Americans.

"We all have vivid memories of what happened in Spain," McEnroe said in a teleconference call. "I'm pleased we're playing at home in front of an awesome crowd.

"The guys are really pumped up about it. We desperately want to win and move on."

The winner will face either Sweden or Argentina in the semi-finals on Sept. 21-23.

Spanish captain Emilio Sanchez is expected to announce his squad on Monday.

McEnroe said he expected his team would face world number two Rafael Nadal, fresh from victory at Indian Wells, where he beat Roddick 6-4 6-3 in the semi-finals.

"He made a statement in winning Indian Wells and played extremely well," McEnroe said. "He's not a one-man team. They've got a great team all around."

McEnroe anticipates Spain naming either David Ferrer or Tommy Robredo as their second singles player.

"My suspicion is we probably won't know until maybe the day before the match," he said.

McEnroe said he has been trying to find the right surface to benefit world number three Roddick and number eight Blake.

"We're looking for a surface that is relatively quick, preferably one where the ball doesn't bounce particularly high," he said.

"We realise Nadal has proved he can play on anything," the U.S. captain said of the 20-year-old Spaniard, winner of the last two French Open titles.

"The guy can play. But we'll try to make it more to our advantage."