U.S. to field strong Davis Cup team

SANTIAGO, Chile, March 3 (UPI) -- A strong U.S. team featuring No. 8-ranked Andy Roddick and the world No. 1 doubles team travels to Chile for a first-round Davis Cup series.

Roddick is returning to Davis Cup play where's he's been a formidable player for the Americans. Roddick is 31-11 lifetime in Davis Cup singles matches, although nine of the losses have come on clay courts.

The Chileans, of course, have selected an outdoor clay court for the best-of-five series this weekend in Santiago.

Roddick opens the series Friday against Nicolas Massu before John Isner, No. 32 in the rankings, goes against Chile's Paul Capdeville. Neither of the Chilean singles players is ranked in the Top 150.

The Americans have the world's top-ranked doubles team in twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan. Bob Bryan is 21-4 in Davis Cup play, including 11-0 on clay. Mike Bryan is 17-3 overall and 8-1 on clay. Their opponents Saturday will be Massu and Jorge Aguilar.

Sunday calls for reverse singles with Capdeville facing Roddick and Massu going against Isner.

The winning team advances to the Davis Cup quarterfinals, which will be played July 8-10, against the winner of the series between Belgium and Spain.