Courier hopes for fit Roddick in Chile

Jim Courier hopes to have a healthy Andy Roddick in his squad when he makes his debut as the US Davis Cup captain when the Americans face Chile on outdoor clay in Santiago from March 4-6.

Eighth-ranked Roddick, who withdrew from the Delray Beach ATP event this week because of flu, was named to the US team on Tuesday along with John Isner and Bob and Mike Bryan, the world’s top doubles squad.

“Hopefully Andy is going to get healthy. He’s got a little bit of the flu,” Courier said Tuesday. “But these guys are tough and we’re not excuse makers. We will be ready to play and ready to battle when we get down there.” Taking a rest before facing extended rallies, potential five-set matches and a hostile crowd was a wise move for Roddick, Courier said.

“Certainly he’s not feeling as well as he would like to, but it seemed to be flu symptoms, which shouldn’t be too severe,” Courier said. “He should be back on the court here probably by midweek and get some kind of buildup for the Davis Cup.

“So for him to get rested and ready to go, I think that makes sense. But his confidence should be very high.” Sam Querrey is having a doctor examine a shoulder but is playing this week at Delray Beach, as is Mardy Fish, who is not planning to play in Chile due to thyroid problems.

Querrey, ranked 22nd, is planning on travelling to Chile and could be substituted into the US lineup by March 3.

“We’re going to get down there and the intent certainly is to bring the best team forward,” Courier said. “At the moment that’s what we’ve nominated.” Roddick, who had taken a break from Davis Cup play to focus on his individual career, has been upbeat about coming back under Courier, who replaced Patrick McEnroe.

“Andy is definitely excited about Davis Cup,” Courier said.

“Andy has always been passionate about it, and he was very straightforward with Patrick last year that it just wasn’t going to work based on how he was feeling and what he was looking to achieve.

“Davis Cup was something that he wasn’t ruling out long-term, it was just something that he looks at it on a year-by-year basis. And the second that I was named captain and called him, he said, ’I’m in and let’s go to battle.’ “His leadership from within will be exceptional and certainly something I’ll lean on.” Courier feels some jitters as his Davis Cup captaincy begins.

“I’m certainly anxious and excited,” he said. “Anything worth doing is going to give you a little bit of tension and a little bit of nerves and you’re going to wonder how you’re going to do and how you’re going to deal with it.

“I’ve never done this before as captain so it’s not many chances to do things for the first time within the tennis world for me.

I’ve been around the game a long time, but this is one of them, and this is new and it’s exciting.”