Fribourg, Switzerland (Sports Network) - An opening-round Davis Cup tie
between the United States and host Switzerland will commence Friday when
American Mardy Fish takes on Swiss slugger Stanislas Wawrinka.
The best-of-five affair will be staged on red clay at Forum Fribourg.
Fish-Wawrinka will be followed by a bout between Swiss great Roger Federer and
6-foot-9 American John Isner. This will mark the 16-time Grand Slam champion
Federer's first World Group Davis Cup action since 2004, as he has played in
only a few playoffs and zonal matchups since then.
Saturday's doubles will pit an American tandem of Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison
against a powerful Swiss pairing of Federer and Wawrinka, who were the gold
medal winners at the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing in 2008. Bob Bryan made
himself unavailable to play doubles for the U.S. this week after his wife gave
birth to their first child last week.
Sunday's reverse singles will pit the former world No. 1 and currently third-
ranked Federer against the No. 8 Fish and Wawrinka versus Isner.
The 32-time Davis Cup champion Americans will play this week without injured
star Andy Roddick.
The U.S. is 2-1 all-time versus Switzerland, including a victory in the final
back in 1992. The Swiss, however, are 1-0 all-time against the Americans on
home soil, with the victory coming 11 years ago in Basel.
Team USA is captained former world No. 1 star Jim Courier, while Switzerland,
which has never captured the Davis Cup, is led by Severin Luthi.
The USA-Switzerland winner will meet the Canada-France victor in the
quarterfinals in April.
The Sports Network