THE SCOOP: MONDAY, JANUARY 27

Injured Roddick questionable for Davis Cup

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA, Inc.

The United States hope of having a standout Davis Cup campaign could be dashed if top player Andy Roddick cannot recover from a wrist injury he suffered at the Australian Open in time for U.S. tie vs. Croatia, Feb. 7-9 at the Hall Dom Sportova in Zagreb.

According to USTA spokesman Randy Walker, Roddick will undergo an MRI either on Monday night or Tuesday morning to examine the extent of the injury. U.S captain Patrick McEnroe will name his team at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday.

According to ATP trainer Bill Norris, Roddick triggered a bout of tendonitis in his right wrist when he fell in his five-hour win over Younes El Aynaoui in the Aussie Open quarters. Norris said the tendonitis goes up to the Roddick's mid-forearm area.

"It's the extensor tendon that's inflamed," Norris said. "Andy does not like to have any real pain killers. Everything was suggested to him, an injection or something. He declined that. He didn't want it to mask any type of further injury that he could possibly sustain. He's 20 years old. He's a young man. He's going to have a great future ahead of him."

Should Roddick be unable to play, McEnroe will be hard pressed to grab a victory over Croatia, which features Mario Ancic, Ivan Ljubicic, Goran Ivanisevic and Lovro Zovko.

McEnroe will almost certainly tab James Blake to play singles, but after that, it's a virtual crap shoot. Mardy Fish has been playing well and will likely be named to squad due to his two recent victories over Carlos Moya and that he's successfully partnered with Blake in doubles before, but Fish has little big stage experience. Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras swore off Davis Cup late last year and old stalwart and new dad Todd Martin hasn't played a match since the '02 U.S. Open.

Taylor Dent has been injured and Mike Bryan, part of the top-five twin doubles playing duo of Mike and Bob Bryan, is also battling a wrist injury.

McEnroe may be forced to ask the lefty Bob to play, or go deep in the well again and try to resuscitate the career of one-time Davis Cup player Jan-Michael Gambill, who had a decent start to this year, but whom McEnroe has very little faith in as a singles player.

Recall that Gambill lost critical, winnable matches to both Italy and Spain and McEnroe didn't name him to any of the three teams that competed last year.