Andy Roddick and James Blake, the main-stays of the U.S. Davis Cup team, will not participate in Davis Cup for 2010, U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe confirmed to Peter Bodo of Tennis.com Thursday.
“It certainly appears to be the end of era,” McEnroe told Bodo, his co-author in an upcoming book project. “But the door will always remain open to both of those guys in the event they decide they want to play again.”
The United States will face a tough away match at Serbia in March. The team has not been named, but Sam Querrey and John Isner would appear to be the front-runners for the spot.
There was speculation that Roddick would forgo Davis Cup play to concentrate on winning his elusive second major singles title, as hinted here in this article – http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/1336 Blake has struggled of late with his ranking falling out of the top 10 to his current No. 44 ranking.
Roddick made his Davis Cup debut in 2001 as an 18-year-old in McEnroe’s debut tie as U.S. captain against Switzerland in Basel. After Roger Federer clinched victory for Switzerland by defeating Jan-Michael Gambill, Roddick played a dead-rubber match against George Bastl. He represented the United States in every tie he was healthy for since then, leading the U.S. to the Davis Cup title in 2007. Blake debuted on the U.S. team also in 2001 against India in Winston-Salem, N.C. in the qualifying round.
Roddick holds a 31-11 Davis Cup record (all in singles) while Blake holds a 21-12 in singles and doubles.