Wilander itching to go

Wilander, a former world number one, lost Joachim Johansson to injury earlier in the week and the 21-year-old will be replaced at the official draw on Thursday.

"There is so much that can happen and I don't fancy telling anyone early that you are going to play, I think it's better that everyone works towards the same goal and everybody is ready to play on Friday morning," Wilander told the official website.

"There are so many cases like someone getting injured on Thursday night, or Wednesday after hard practice. So, no I haven't really thought about it."

While Sweden has been the most successful nation in the men's team competition over the past 20 years, veteran Davis Cup hero Thomas Enqvist believes the Scandinavians could cause another upset and remain on course for an eighth title.

"We have a deep team which is always a good thing, we are not depending on one or two players which is always good in Davis Cup, so I think our confidence level is pretty high," said Enqvist.

"Obviously we know this is a very, very tough tie, but it feels good."

It was the same feeling with the Americans. Their captain Patrick McEnroe said his side had a very good record at home and is confident.

"Playing at home we like our chances, we're feeling comfortable," said McEnroe.

"We know we have to go out and play well. Sweden has a lot of experience. They've played a lot of tough matches at home and on the road, the win in Australia [February in Adelaide] was a great win for them. I don't think it will affect them negatively, hopefully it will affect us in a more positive way."

McEnroe believes he now has the best team with Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and the Bryan twins, lined up to win the Davis Cup.

"Do we have to win it to say we're back? I guess," commented the American captain.

"I think we can reasonably say now we have a very good chance to win it every year. By now means are we the clear favourite but when you look at Spain and France and anyone else that has done well the last couple of years, I don't think there's one team that's a clear favourite every year.

"There is too much depth, but I think we've set the stage for the next number of years we're certainly going to be in the hunt," he exclaimed.