U.S. captain Jim Courier names Mardy Fish, John Isner, Mike Bryan, and Ryan Harrison to the Davis Cup team that will face the Swiss away in Fribourg, Feb. 10-12
Mike’s twin Bob is skipping the tie as his wife Michelle is due to give birth to their daughter on January 29. Andy Roddick is injured and has declined to play.
World No. 3 Roger Federer and No. 22 Stanislas Wawrinka lead the Swiss on indoor clay court.
"We have the toughest you can have draw in Davis Cup," said Courier. "It’s the ultimate test. It’s going to be a big battle, but we have nothing to lose. We have to go out and lay it on the line and we know we are underdogs, but we’ll give it a rip."
No. 17 Isner has won a small clay court title and No. 8 Fish won two matches against Columbia on outdoor clay in a playoff match.
"John likes the clay, likes the slow court," Courier said. "Mardy grew up in Florida and slides well. It’s not the surface we’d have chosen to pick, but I don’t think it’s a problem for us."
Federer has not played a main draw World Group match since 2004. He’ll lineup against Isner on the first day.
"It's not a match he can wait to come to him, he has to take it to Roger and shorten points,” Courier said. “He needs to be explosive. That’s no mystery and certainly won’t be a surprise to Roger."
Courier added that it is unlikely that the teenager Harrison will play a live rubber. Sam Querrey was considered for the team, but is nursing a sore knee.—Matt Cronin