Roddick, Blake headline Davis Cup team

NEW YORK – Andy Roddick, James Blake and the Bryan brothers once again will represent the United States in Davis Cup tennis play, this time for the semifinal matchup at Sweden later this month.

Captain Patrick McEnroe made it official Tuesday, picking the top two Americans in singles and the No. 1-ranked doubles duo of Bob and Mike Bryan. For practice partners, McEnroe made big choices – 6-foot-9 John Isner and 6-6 Sam Querrey.

The semifinal tie will be Sept. 21-23 in Goteborg at the Scandinavium Arena, the same place where Sweden beat the Americans for the 1984 and 1997 Davis Cup titles.

The Swedes picked to play on hard courts, which suited McEnroe fine.

“I think their guys are obviously a lot more comfortable on fast courts, which obviously we are, as well,” he said at the U.S. Open.

“I don’t think we were disappointed when we heard it was a fast, hard court, particularly coming off the Open, the guys playing all summer on this kind of surface,” he said.

Germany and Russia play in the other semifinal. If it becomes a U.S.-Russian final, the Americans would host it.

San Diego, Oklahoma City, Portland and Winston-Salem, N.C., are the four possible sites for a potential championship.

Roddick, Blake and the Bryans led the Americans to a 4-1 win over Spain in April at Winston-Salem. McEnroe saw a benefit to keeping the team intact, on and off the court.

“I think it’s their commitment and their energy. They just love being there. They love being with each other. They bring that kind of passion every time,” he said.

“I’ve been captain seven years. Roddick has missed one match because of a serious injury,” he said. “That’s pretty incredible for any country to have their No. 1 player over that long a period.”

McEnroe said he wasn’t sure who would be on Sweden’s team. Thomas Johansson and Jonas Borkman are expected to play, but Robin Soderling was uncertain after missing the hard-court season with an injured left wrist.