Kevin McClure and I are doing fewer podcasts, and our first one this year was probably too long, but
this one is more in the normal 30 minute time slot. We discuss the college tennis rankings, the dearth of U.S. juniors in Australia, my visits to the Futures and Plaza Cup while in Florida and the 14-and-under U.S. teams competing in Europe.
It hardly seems possible that Fed Cup and Davis Cup are upon us again, but the women are taking on Germany this weekend in La Jolla, and according to
Zina Garrison's blog, Christina McHale and Julia Boserup are the two juniors invited to practice with the team, which consists of Lindsay Davenport, Ashley Harkleroad, Lisa Raymond and Laura Granville.
Unlike the U.S. Fed Cup team, which changes regularly depending on the availability of the Williams sisters, the U.S. Davis Cup team, which was announced today, is the same tie after tie. Andy Roddick, James Blake, and the Bryans begin their defense of the cup in Austria on February 8th. Accompanying the team to Vienna will be two left-handers--Jesse Levine and Ryler De Heart, and that is probably partially due to the fact that two of Austria's top players, Stefan Koubek and Jurgen Melzer, are left-handed.
Tennis Week has a quick rundown of the matchups and teams
here. 
