When he was 10, Andy Roddick took a trip to Fort Worth with his tennis club to see a Davis Cup final matching a star-studded United States team, with John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier, against Switzerland.
"The crowd was going crazy, and I saw my idols play and it stuck with me," Roddick said.
Now Roddick will have a Davis Cup tie in his own backyard when a quarterfinal match between the U.S. and Spain takes place at the Erwin Center from July 8-10.
"It's a blockbuster quarterfinal," Roddick said Wednesday during a phone interview from Miami, where he was playing in a tournament. "It will be a dream come true, and I'm excited for the tennis community of Austin."
The U.S. and Spain have combined to win three of the past four Davis Cups, with the U.S. winning in 2007 and Spain taking the cup in 2008 and 2009. The annual international competition began in 1900.
The world's No.1-ranked player, Rafael Nadal, has committed to playing for Spain while Austin's Roddick figures to be the anchor for the U.S. squad.
Austin was one of three finalists for the Davis Cup tie along with San Antonio and Albany, N.Y. Roddick said he lobbied hard for Austin.
United States Tennis Association director Jeff Ryan acknowledged that Roddick's efforts had an impact on the selection process, saying , "Players have a huge stake in this competition."
It will be the first time Austin has been the site of a Davis Cup tie, and the fifth time a Texas city has served as a host, with Houston being the most recent one in 2002.
"It's a great day for tennis fans throughout the Lone Star State," said Gov. Rick Perry, who was on hand Wednesday for the official announcement of the match.
The U.S. has won more Davis Cup titles, 32, than any country. Spain won its first Davis Cup title in 2000 but now has four. The competition between the two squads will be held over three days, with two singles matches on the first day, a doubles match on the second and reversed singles matches on the final day.
The action will be televised live in the United States by the Tennis Channel, which also plans to air replays at night.
Ryan said the Erwin Center will make use of the Hawk-Eye replay technology that allows players to challenge line calls. Hawk-Eye was first used in the 2006 Davis Cup final and also was used in the 2010 Davis Cup semifinals .
To spectators watching the tie, the tennis ball may often appear to be a blur. Until recently Roddick held the record for the world's fastest serve with a 155-mph bomb he hit in a 2004 Davis Cup match .
Although Nadal has twice won on the slick grass of Wimbledon, where he's the reigning champion, he's considered better on slower surfaces so the U.S., which as home team gets to pick the playing surface, will use a quick Premier Court.
Teams have until 10 days before the competition to name their squads. Courier is now the U.S. Davis Cup coach, and players from both teams should be coming to Austin from Wimbledon, where the men's final is scheduled for July 3.
Only two U.S. players have participated in more Davis Cup matches than Roddick, McEnroe with 69 and Vic Seixas with 55.
Oddly enough Roddick, who's 33-11 in Davis Cup play, is tied for third with the late Wilmer Allison (32-12), a former University of Texas player and coach.
Tickets will be good for all three days of Davis Cup matches, with prices starting at $90 and ranging up to $500. USTA members will be able to buy tickets beginning April 4, four days before tickets are made available to the general public through the Erwin Center box office and the USTA.
The Erwin Center will hold about 15,000 for the competition, which requires only one court.
jmaher@statesman.com; 445-3956
