September 19th, 2007 07:38 pm By Andyroddick.com 2007 GOTHENBURG, SWEDENTHE MODERATOR: Welcome, everybody. We have James Blake, Andy Roddick, Patrick McEnroe, Bob and Mike Bryan all together here. We have a lot of memories meeting the United States here. No one has played in this team before in Scandinavia. I know James has good memories from Sweden. I don't know if Patrick has asked his brother about the performance here in 1984.
CAPTAIN McENROE: Any questions (laughter)?
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the team.
Q. First of all, how do you like the surface and the stadium?
ANDY RODDICK: I like the surface. I feel like it's a good surface for us actually. We came here, first couple practices I felt like we were all hitting the ball pretty well. I think we 're happy with it.
Q. What kind of a game do you expect on a surface like this?
ANDY RODDICK: It 's quick, but I think there 's been quicker surfaces. You know, you're still able to set up, hit balls, play from the baseline.
Like I said, I think it's okay for us.
Q. Next year they have new rules for the surfaces. They will not allow this kind of fast surface. Do you think it's a good rule to have a medium speed?
CAPTAIN McENROE: I don't think this court is that fast. So I think it's a pretty good surface, as Andy said. But I think in general that's a good rule, yes. I think sometimes some surfaces have been very extreme, some of the faster courts, even some of the clay. We've even played on some very, very slow clay that is not like clay you'd play in a normal tournament.
So I think overall that would be a good rule. But I don't think it would be I don't think this court is one that would be in question. I think it's a pretty fair surface.
Q. But clay I think will be excluded.
CAPTAIN McENROE: I don't think it should be. I think clay should be tested just like the other surfaces. We played on some clay that is, as I said, not like any other clay in a normal tournament.
Q. If you look at the rankings, things like that, you say you are huge favorites in this game. Do you agree?
CAPTAIN McENROE: No. I mean, we never look at the rankings. We all know what Davis Cup is about. They have players that are extremely capable. They have Jonas Bjorkman, who has played for 13 years for Sweden, won a lot of big matches. Thomas Johansson won a Grand Slam title. You know, Simon Aspelin just won the US Open.
We don't really worry about the what the rankings say. We played too many matches in too many countries where the rankings are pretty much irrelevant. We just want to play our best. I think if we do that, we have a good chance.
Q. Were you surprised to see Joachim Johansson in the team?
CAPTAIN McENROE: I was a little surprised, yeah. But we'll see if he's able to play, will be the big question for them. Obviously he's a great talent, has had a lot of bad luck with injuries. We certainly know how good he's capable of playing.