U.S. to play India Davis Cup tie in North Carolina

The United States will host their Davis Cup qualifying round tie with India in September at Joel Coliseum on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the U.S. Tennis Association announced on Monday.

The Americans were forced into the qualifying round after losing to Switzerland in the first round this year.

The U.S. must defeat India to remain in the elite World Group for the 2002 Davis Cup competition.

"We're very excited about bringing Davis Cup back to North Carolina," said U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe, who made his Davis Cup playing debut against the Bahamas in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1993.

The surface has not yet been selected but a USTA spokesman said it would most likely be an indoor carpet.

Joel Coliseum, home of the Wake Forest University basketball team, will hold around 6,400 fans for the match against India.

Unless Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras have a last minute change of heart after bowing out of Davis Cup competition, McEnroe is likely to field a team of relative newcomers in the September 21-23 tie.

"Right now is an exciting time in U.S. men's tennis with the emergence of players like Jan-Michael Gambill and Andy Roddick," McEnroe said. "This will be an exciting and difficult matchup against a very talented Indian team."

Roddick has emerged as the rising star of American tennis after capturing consecutive titles over the past two weeks.

The U.S. have won all six of their previous Davis Cup meetings with India but this time face an experienced team led by Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.

Arguably the world's best doubles pairing, Paes and Bhupathi were the first duo in more than 45 years to reach all four Grand Slam doubles finals in a calendar year when in 1999 they won Wimbledon and the French Open and were runners-up at the Australian and U.S. Opens.

The pair claimed the doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships over the weekend in Houston, where Roddick captured the singles crown.