No chance of late Davis Cup call for Safin-Tarpishchev

"This is our strongest team," Tarpishchev told reporters at Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday.
"I think that these guys play better than Marat and he is not going to be here."
Holders Russia will be represented by world number four Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny (19), Igor Andreev (33) and Dmitry Tursunov (34) when the three-day tie starts on Friday.
Although the Russians will be seeking a third Davis Cup title in just six years, Tarpishchev rates the Americans as strong favourites because of home-court advantage.
"It`s not by chance that when we played in Moscow on the clay courts we won, because the clay court diminishes the attacking power of the players," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
Russia, spearheaded by the charismatic Safin, edged the U.S. 3-2 in last year`s World Group semi-final in Moscow before going on to beat Argentina at the same venue in the final.