The Davis Cup is coming to Andy Roddick’s home turf. The USTA has announced that Austin, Texas will host the July 8-10 Davis Cup quarterfinal between the U.S. and Spain. The matches will be played at the Frank Erwin Center on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Austin is the hometown of Roddick, who is second all-time in U.S. Davis Cup singles victories with 33.
World No. 1 and nine-time Grand Slam champ Rafael Nadal said after Spain’s first-round win over Belgium that he was committed to compete against the U.S.
This will be the first home tie for first-year Davis Cup captain Jim Courier, and the first home tie for the U.S. since it defeated Switzerland in the ‘09 first round in Birmingham, Ala. Since then the U.S. has played in four consecutive away ties.
“We’re excited to play in Austin as we haven’t hosted a tie for quite some time,” said Courier, who made his debut with a first-round win over Chile in March. “We’ll be ready to use our crowd’s energy for what promises to be an exciting and challenging tie.”
The tie will mark the 10th matchup between the U.S. and Spain in Cup competition. The U.S. leads the overall series 5-4, with its last victory against Spain coming in the ‘07 quarterfinal in Winston-Salem, N.C. Nadal led Spain to a 4-1 victory in the last meeting between the two countries in the ‘08 semi in Spain. The U.S. is 109-15 all-time in Davis Cup ties played at home.
This will be the fifth Davis Cup tie played in the state of Texas and first since the U.S. defeated Spain, 3-1, in the ‘02 quarterfinal at Houston’s Westside TC. The U.S. is 4-0 in Texas, including the ‘92 Davis Cup Final in Ft. Worth, when the U.S. Dream Team of Courier, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras defeated Switzerland 3-1. A 10-year-old Roddick attended that match as a fan with his family.
“I appreciate the USTA for even considering Austin,” said Roddick. “It’s been no secret that I have wanted it for a long time. It would be a dream come true to play at home.”
