 Roddick and Blake face a battle on clay |
James Blake and Andy Roddick will lead the United States in their Davis Cup semi-final against Russia in Moscow later this month. World number seven Blake and former number one Roddick, ranked 10th, will be joined by brothers Bob and Mike Bryan for the 22-24 September clash.
The US are attempting to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1995.
US captain Patrick McEnroe said Ryan Sweeting and Nikita Kryvonos would join the squad as practice partners.
McEnroe said it was a tough assignment on clay, with Nikolay Davydenko, Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny all likely to be in the home team.
"The Russians are obviously extremely tough and are doing very well," he told a news conference at the US Open.
The match will be played at the Olympic Stadium, where Pete Sampras won all three of his matches as the US beat Russia 3-2 in the 1995 final.
Although the surface will not suit Roddick and Blake, who prefer faster courts, McEnroe said the Russians were not unbeatable.
"We've heard it is going to be nice and slow, nice and heavy but we've been there before, last year against Belgium and a couple of years ago in (the final in) Spain.
"I wouldn't say clay was their best surface. It's a surface they have had good results on but I think they have picked the surface against us rather than for them."
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