Black Tennis Pros

U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe was unswayed by recent events at Flushing Meadows when making up the team for the semifinal in Spain later this month. McEnroe passed over two hot-handed American men, Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish, and named the same team of Andy Roddick, James Blake and the doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan to meet the Spaniards in Madrid as the Americans defend their 2007 title.

"I'm happy to see those guys doing well," McEnroe said of Querrey and Fish, who had breakthrough runs at the Open. "I hope those guys continue to put up good results and to make it a difficult decision for me in the future. But for this match it wasn't a difficult decision."

Fish beat Blake in the third round and made it to his first Open quarterfinal before falling to world No.1 Rafael Nadal. Querrey, a 20-year-old Californian, fell to Nadal in four sets in the fourth round. Blake remains the second-highest-ranked American, McEnroe argued. He also said he wanted to stay with a team he has used in 11 straight ties. "I want to go with the guys I think give us the best chance to win," McEnroe said. "At this point, I still thoroughly believe that Roddick and Blake give us the best chance."