“Nick has a virus,” said Aussie debut captain Lleyton Hewitt. “At the moment, he is taking it easy and trying to get over that 100% to be ready to go. I didn’t want him around the other boys if he is a bit infectious. It is more of a precaution. He will be ready.

The legends of tennis weighed in on some topics Saturday night.

RYAN HARRISON: Well, I think I have the advantage of being a practice partner a couple years ago, also being a part of that fantastic tie we had in Switzerland. Like Jim said, I played the dead rubber match for me to get out there. We discussed a lot of that stuff in the past. Obviously we talked about it, just like we talked about many other things for this match. I think we’re both on the same page. We both have a very clear mindset of what has to be done in order to get the job done. We’re going to try to go out and execute tomorrow.

The winning American team met the press after their stunning upset over the favored Swiss Saturday in Fribourg.

Roddick stumbles, Spain on top of USA 2-0 in Davis Cup.

Jim Courier announced his U.S. Davis Cup roster for tie against Chile.

Roger Federer gets the answer right.

Jim Courier was officially named the captain of the US Davis Cup team.

“Greg beat me fair and square today,” Sampras said. “We both had to be a bit careful out there at the end because of the rain but Greg still managed a serve at 140 mph, so all credit to him. I’m still pleased with how I’ve played here in Chengdu and I hope to come back next year.”

Andy Roddick’s early-round exit in Washington dropped him out of the Top 10, making for the FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE RANKINGS there are no American’s in the Top 10. RIP, U.S. tennis, we were big fans back in the day…

Highlights from the Champions for Chile exo from Miami on Saturday.

“It is almost a comedy that I am back in such a short time,” said Safin of so quickly jumping from the ATP World Tour on the Champions Series circuit. “It is an honor to be playing with these legends.”

Talent can be a heavy burden as most failures rest firmly on the shoulders of the talented.

Playing in his debut tournament on the Outback Champions Series, Rafter used his trademark serve and volley game on the hard courts of the Palmilla Tennis Club to dictate play and set up a possible final-round showdown with Pete Sampras, his top rival during his ATP career. Sampras will play Mats Wilander of Sweden in the tournament’s other semifinal on Saturday.

If the Williams sisters were to retire with Davenport as of this writing, the U.S. would have no women in the Top 40, and three players in the Top 100 (including the 30+ Jill Craybas, and Ashley Harkleroad who is pregnant). In other words, by the time the Williams retire, U.S. women’s tennis will virtually retire with them.