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DAVIS CUP FINAL United States vs. Russia Today-Sunday; Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Ore. IN HIS WORDS

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

SURFACE: Hard court (indoors)

FORMAT: Today - two singles matches; Saturday - doubles; Sunday - reverse singles

TV: Today - Versus, 4 p.m.; Saturday - Versus, 3:30 p.m.; Sunday - Versus, 4 p.m.

U.S. ROSTER
Andy Roddick James Blake
Mike Bryan
Bob Bryan
Captain: Patrick McEnroe
RUSSIA ROSTER
Nikolay Davydenko Mikhail Youzhny Igor Andreev Dmitry Tursunov
Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

NEED TO KNOW

Both squads include the same players from the semifinals, when the United States beat Sweden 4-1 and Russia defeated Germany 3-2. ... This marks the first Davis Cup final on American soil in 15 years. The U.S. topped Switzerland in the 1992 finale in Fort Worth, Texas. ... The Americans have won a record 31 Davis Cup titles - Australia is second with 28 - but haven't captured the championship since 1995, when Pete Sampras led the U.S. to a 3-2 victory over Russia in Moscow. The 12-year drought is the longest for the Americans in Davis Cup. ... The Russians beat Argentina in Moscow in last year's finale; they captured the first of their two Davis Cup titles in 2002. ... The U.S. is 2-1 all-time against Russia, which beat the Americans 3-2 in last year's semifinals in Moscow. The U.S. bested the Russians 3-2 in an opening-round affair in Atlanta in 1998. ... In last year's semifinals, Tursunov put Russia into the final by beating Roddick 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 in reverse singles in the deciding match. ... This year's Davis Cup tournament began in February with 131 nations competing.

Tampa resident James Blake is 15-9 in Davis Cup matches, including 12-8 in singles. He recently discussed what the Davis Cup experience means to him.

Do you feel like your game elevates when it comes Davis Cup time?

I'd like to think so. I've had a lot of fun. I think being on a team where you really care helps you to overachieve. I'm proud to be a part of this team. ... I was definitely very nervous the first time I ever played Davis Cup, but since then I try to look at it as it's just another match and I've had success in that. I hope I have some more success in the finals.

In Davis Cup you're 7-0 on hard courts, 9-5 indoors. Is this the best possible surface for your game?

Definitely. I think this is going to play into our hands, which is the reason you have the homecourt advantage, so we can make it perfect for our games. I think for Andy and myself it's a great situation. We love playing on indoor hard. We've had some of our best results there. I think the Bryans could play on Pluto and still be the favorites. ... We know we're going to have a raucous crowd on our side. I think this is the perfect situation for me to play some of my best tennis.

Americans get pretty patriotic for the Olympics or the World Cup, any event where they can root for the U.S. Do you anticipate people around the country, outside of Portland, will be following the Davis Cup final?

I really hope so. I was excited to hear how quickly the stadium sold out in Portland, to hear they're putting up big screens to make it free for other people to watch. I think the rest of the country will notice. I really hope they do. I hope it's all over "SportsCenter," all over the news. ... I do hope the rest of the public - not just the diehard tennis fans - realize how important this is to us and to the USTA.

IN HIS WORDS

U.S. ROSTER

RUSSIA ROSTER

NEED TO KNOW

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