As per usual, national collegiate singles champion Steve Johnson leads the way as he gets his first call up from captain Jim Courier for the United States team as a practice partner for Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and the Bryan brothers.
The USTA did a Q&A with Johnson to discuss his first Davis Cup experience. The quarterfinal is in Roddick's hometown of Austin, TX. He invited the team over to his house for the 4th of July and made the four rookies entertain the vets with a hot dog eating contest.
"It was all in good fun," Johnson told USTA.com. "I ended up winning; it was the first to finish five hot dogs. When Andy has an idea, he goes with it and makes sure it happens. I was just trying to force them down. The biggest bummer, though, was not being able to enjoy the gourmet food at the house afterwards because I was so full."
The U.S. is taking on Spain in the main draw, but several other Trojans are representing their countries in the qualifying rounds for next year's Davis Cup.
Jaak Poldma (Estonia), Emilio Gomez (Ecuador), Cecil Mamiit (Philippines) and West Nott (Pacific/Oceania) are in action this weekend.
