What about getting the Bryan brothers on Davis Cup instead of Sampras and Todd Martin? I know it's nice to have a veteran on your team, but these guys represent our best chance of winning that crucial doubles point on clay. Semis (so far) at the US Open & at Wimbledon, quarters at Roland Garros and the Australian. They're facing off in the mixed doubles finals in NY as well. They're the Williams Sisters of the men's doubles world!!

Or maybe not quite. But still!

I'm all for putting these guys on Davis Cup team. I always think it's better to have a team that has played together than just pairing two successful singles players. The brothers have asserted their strong desire to play Davis Cup. However, I think Johnny Mac answered this question at Wimbledon saying that the two are good, but have not come up big at a major yet. If they make this final, maybe they have a shot at the spot.

Well, they lost a tough three set semifinal to the #3 seeds. They had a great run though. I will be interested to see if they come up again as a possibility for the Davis Cup team

Roddick, Blake, Todd Martin and Mardy Fish are the members of the semifinal squad scheduled to play against France. I suppose that means Blake will perform double duty in singles and doubles. They won Cincinnati last month, but I think the decision to pass over the Brothers was due as much to the DC experience Martin brings to the table as anything else.

Here's how our singles players match up against theirs (remember, Davis Cup is best of five)

Grosjean v. Blake:
2002 Roland Garros (clay)
Grosjean d. Blake 6-4 3-6 6-2 7-5

Grosjean v. Roddick:
no matches

Clement v. Blake:
2001 Cincinnati (hard)
Blake d. Clement 7-5 6-4

Clement v. Roddick
2002 World Team Cup (clay)
Clement d. Roddick 3-6 6-4 6-3

Career clay records:

Clement 24-34 (13-14 last two years)
Grosjean 60-38 (SF & QF of last to French Opens)
Santoro 122-117

Roddick 26-6 (includes three titles on American green clay)
Blake 7-7 (QF at Rome this year)
Martin 64-41 (won Barcelona in 1998, beating Muster, Costa, and Berasategui)

Should be a lot of fun! Predictions??

p.s. I'm picking the US & Russia to advance
Morocco to win at Switzerland
Romania over Slovak Republic
Netherlands over Finland
Great Britain over Thailand (because it's in GB)
Germany to smite Venezuela, even if Haas and Kiefer can't play
Brazil over Canada (they won't have to travel at all)
Zimbabwe over Belgium (again - at home, plus ZIM should win doubles; also, their fourth player is named Genius Chidzikwe)
Australia over India in Adelaide

USA! USA!

i'm hoping the US wins, but i bet it will come down to the doubles match. a rowdy french crowd may actually fire up our team.

From what I can figure, here's the Davis Cup TV schedule:

DAY 1: Friday, September 20 (first two singles matches)

4:30-7:00 a.m. Eastern, ESPN2 (I assume that's live ... maybe I should just fly to Paris for the weekend and watch it there)

Noon-2:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN (repeat of earlier play??)

DAY 2: Saturday, September 21 (doubles)

1:00-3:00 a.m. Eastern on SUNDAY!!, ESPN2 (hey guys, I know college football is important, but geez! ... we'll already know the result by the time it's aired)

DAY 3: Sunday, September 22 (reverse singles)

1:30-4:00 p.m. Eastern, ESPN (now that's more like it, hopefully the US is still alive by then)

And when that's over: Broncos game on CBS baby!!!

Uh oh.

Roddick lost a match he shoulda won - up 1 set to 0, he lost the second set 8-6 in a tiebreak. He then had FIVE set points in the third set, only to lose it 7-5 in a tiebreak. I guess he just fell apart then (perhaps aided by a tumble he took in the third) and dropped the fourt set 6-1.

And now Blake is down 2 sets to 0 to Grosjean. Not unexpected, and not unovercomeable, but not looking good either. But always remember, this is Davis Cup and anything can happen.

Go USA!

woo hoo! Blake just won the third set, 9-7 in the tiebreak!! Let's go James!!!!

I just logged on to the Davis Cup site, too. Looks like Blake is playing Grosjean pretty close. Grosjean is just soooooo good on clay. It's great, though, that James is keeping the match close (up a break!!!). Actually, it's quite impressive.

I've been out of the loop for a few days: why isn't Blake playing dubs with Todd Martin? Mardy Fish is great, don't get me wrong, but haven't James Blake and Todd Martin played together more often? Maybe Coach Mac's idea is to keep Blake fresh, though, for singles...?

Blake partnered with Martin after all, and the US team eeked out a 2-6, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

The story @ Yahoo!:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news/ap/200209...p-daviscup.html

For what it's worth, I don't like Andy's chances vs. Grosjean tomorrow. Sebastian has way too much patience and clay court prowess for young Andy. If I had my druthers, Blake would play Clement first, because I think that's a more winnable match for the US...It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

BMan, it doesn't really matter what order they go in, if Roddick's gonna lose, right? This way, if Roddick does somehow win, Blake will have more of a rest between a tough, gutty doubles match and his tie-clinching singles match. And if Roddick loses, Fish can get some experience in the fifth match, and Blake can rest.

I never really thought Fish would play. It's the Davis Cup semis in France!!! You put your best team out there, and Martin and Blake were clearly the best team.

We're still alive. Roddick and Blake have got their work cut out for them. Grosjean and Clement are such solid clay players that it would take perhaps them being slightly off and our boys being red hot to win this. It's unlikely but it's possible. Patience is not yet our youthful American stars' best virtue...

okay, six hours and twenty minutes? That's longer than a freaking Wagner opera!

Argentina d. Russia
64 64 57 36 1917

the last set alone took three hours and five minutes

the thing is, both Russian players, Safin and Kafenlikov, are scheduled to play singles tomorrow while Nalbandian and Arnold are giving the stage up to Gaudio and Chela. Chela especially looks to have a great chance against YK. Now THAT'S what I call a great Davis Cup tie.

The Russians could be in a little trouble. It is pretty demanding to play three days in a row following a best of 5 format. Being stretched for almost an entire day on the doubles court does not really do much for your recovery. Chela and Gaudio are solid players. (Too bad Canas was not healthy.) If Kafelnikov and Safin get slow starts tomorrow, it could be a big turnaround.

The US team is still in trouble. French doubles teams are not typically very strong. Winning the doubles was always something on the table. The singles side of the house is where the match was always going to be decided. And our youngsters may have to take one on the chin as a "learning opportunity" this time around. Grosjean and Clement are not only excellent clay-court players, they are just really smart competitors. It will be hard to blast them off the court at Roland Garros tomorrow. I think we may have to settle for next year.

France has advanced at the expense of the US.
Sebastien Grosjean, France, def. Andy Roddick, United States, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Blake is playing against Clement anyway right now.