Porec, Croatia - James Blake hopes to put bitter memories of first-round defeats at the French Open and Wimbledon out of mind as he and Mardy Fish try to steer the US to a first-ever victory over Croatia in their Davis Cup quarter-final starting Friday. Blake and late substitute Fish will lead the singles attack at the Zatika sports hall on indoor clay laid down by the hosts to try and thwart the 32-times champions.
Andy Roddick is missing from the weekend's action as he heals a hip flexor injury and the emotional stress of losing the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer.
"I feel good about it now, I have put that first-round loss(es) way behind me," said the number 17 Blake, aged 29 and hoping for find some momentum for the upcoming summer hardcourt season.
"I have had a couple of weeks to distance myself from that," said the Wimbledon doubles semi-finalist alongside Fish. "Hopefully here will get me going on the right track going into the summer."
Croatia, 2-0 over the US, may have the choice of surface, but the hosts are also without a pivotal player as Mario Ancic continues his recovery from the glandular fever which has plagued him for nearly two years.
The Croatians will field Marin Cilic and Ivo Karlovic for their main attack in the tie at the country's top Adriatic seaside resort village.
Blake stands 2-3 against Karlovic and 2-0 over Cilic while Fish stands 1-5 combined against the opposition.
The absence of Roddick will not be missed by Croatians: "We'll try to take advantage of Roddick not being here," said captain Goran Prpic. "But we are not the favourites.
"People think we only have to walk on the court, and that's it.
"This tie is wide-open. We have quality, but so does the US team. We can win all four singles matches, and we can lose all four."
American skipper Patrick McEnroe agreed with his opposite number. "Playing at home gives Croatia an advantage, but we have lots of Davis Cup experience experience so I think it's an even tie."
Spain is missing Rafael Nadal after the world number two was unable to get his tendinitis-plagued knees ready for the weekend tie against Germany in Marbella.
Juan Carlos Ferrero also joined the lineup as he replaced injured David Ferrer. Germany is missing Wimbledon semi-finalist Tommy Haas and will go with Philipp Kohlschreiber, Nicolas Kiefer, Andreas Beck and Mischa Zverev.
Igor Kunitsyn replaces injured Dmitry Tursunov for Russia against Israel in Tel Aviv as Marat Safin plays for one of the last times in the worldwide team competition.
World number five Juan Del Potro leads three-time runner-up Argentina against the Czechs in Ostrava.
