The draw for the 2009 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas was held Tuesday in Madrid, with the U.S. drawing a home match against Switzerland in the opening round, to be held March 6-8.
It is not an easy assignment for the U.S., the 2007 Davis Cup champion, as the team could face 13-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. The tie could feature four top-10 players in Americans Andy Roddick and James Blake, as well as Federer, the 2008 US Open champion, and Stanislas Wawrinka.
Switzerland recently won its World Group playoff against Belgium to earn a spot in the World Group again next year.
Another intriguing first-round match-up has Spain, which defeated the U.S. in the semifinals and now plays Argentina for the 2008 Davis Cup title, hosting Serbia. Potentially the tie could feature world No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain against world No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
The following are the first-round match-ups for the World Group nations. The first country listed will choose the site in which the tie will be played:
USA vs. Switzerland
Argentina vs. Netherlands
Czech Republic vs. France
Croatia vs. Chile
Sweden vs. Israel
Romania vs. Russia
Germany vs. Austria
Spain vs. Serbia
Argentina and Spain are the No. 1- and No. 2-seeded nations, respectively, for 2009, as they are the World Group finalists in 2008.
If the United States advances past Switzerland, the team would travel to either Croatia or Chile for the quarterfinal round.