BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Mardy Fish was chosen Thursday to play singles for the United States in its Davis Cup World Group playoff against Slovakia.

	Mardy Fish will join Andy Roddick in Friday's opening Davis Cup singles matches.

Captain Patrick McEnroe picked Fish ahead of James Blake to join U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick in Friday's opening singles matches.

"Tough decision because both guys have been playing well," McEnroe said.

Roddick will play Slovakia's No. 2 player, Dominik Hrbaty, in Friday's opener of the best-of-five series. Fish will follow against Karol Kucera.

Brothers Mike and Bob Bryan will play Saturday's doubles against Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak. In Sunday's singles, it's Roddick vs. Kucera, then Fish vs. Hrbaty.

McEnroe said Fish's current form made the difference. Fish beat Blake in practice this week, though a second match wasn't completed.

"When you have a guy who is committed to playing and playing well, it's difficult," McEnroe said, referring to Blake. "But I just felt like Mardy was playing too well for me not to give him a chance to play."

The Americans are favorites but will have to cope with the slow clay court at the new National Tennis Center.

A victory would keep the United States in the 16-team top group. A loss would result in demotion to the zonal division, a black eye for a country that has won tennis' top team prize a record 31 times but not since 1995.

Unable to consistently field their No. 1 team, the Americans have lost their last two Davis Cup outings -- one short of the record of three straight in 1986-87.

The United States has yet to win on the road since Patrick McEnroe became captain in 2001.

"We know the Slovaks have a lot of experience, especially in Davis Cup, and we are certainly not expecting it to be easy," said McEnroe, whose team -- without Roddick -- lost 4-1 at Croatia in February."But we are extremely confident of our chances."

Roddick took a short break after winning the U.S. Open this month, spending time with his girlfriend, pop singer Mandy Moore. He arrived last weekend in the Slovak capital for extra practice on the slow, grind-it-out surface.

"I feel fine," he said. "Physically, I'm fine; mentally, I'm fine. I had a good six days when I did not think about tennis at all. I've been able to rest a bit."

The Americans are always suspect on clay, although the Bryan twins won this year's French Open doubles title on the same surface.

"They picked the surface so they know what they are doing," said Roddick, who dropped both his singles matches on clay last year in a loss to France. Roddick is 7-2 in Davis Cup singles.

"It will be just as difficult for me as for anybody else," he added. "Everybody else has been playing on the hard courts, grass courts for the last three or four months so it is an adjustment for all of us."

President Rudolf Schuster made a request of the American team. Speaking to Roddick, he said: "Please, I ask you, don't play so well."

Roddick replied: "If I don't play well, it's not because he asked me. I'm definitely going to try to disobey him as much as possible."

The Bryans on Saturday will become only the second set of brothers to play on the U.S. Davis Cup doubles team. John and Patrick McEnroe never player doubles together in Davis Cup. Robert and George Wrenn teamed in 1903.

Mike Bryan said Roddick's presence gave the team confidence.

"He's the hottest thing in tennis right now," he said. "He's the next great American player, the next star."