Russia will turn to Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny in singles as they defend their Davis Cup crown against the United States in the five-match final that starts here on Friday. Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev announced his singles selections at Thursday`s draw, with his entire squad saying they had learned just minutes before that world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko would be assigned only to doubles. Although he is the top-ranked player in the Russian squad, Davydenko is 0-5 against US number one Andy Roddick and 0-6 against America`s other singles player, James Blake. "The choice was made for tactical reasons," Tarpischev said. US captain Patrick McEnroe said he wasn`t surprised by the decision. Despite finishing at No. 4 in the year-end rankings, Davydenko has had a troubled 2007 that included an investigation of suspicious betting patterns relating to a match he played in Poland in August as well as injury woes. "No, we were not surprised by the selections for singles," McEnroe said. "Davydenko has obviously been struggling a little bit with some injuries. I saw him playing in Shanghai (at the Tennis Masters Cup), saw his foot bothered him a little bit." The Russian move means the World Group finale will open with world No. 6 Roddick taking on Tursunov, in a rematch of their scintillating clash in the semi-finals last year, when Tursunov beat Roddick 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15. That match was on clay in Moscow, and Tursunov said Friday`s match-up on the fast court installed at the sold-out Memorial Coliseum would no doubt be "quite different." Roddick, who has played 18 Davis Cup ties stretching back to 2001 but never lifted a title, agreed. "I don`t see a lot of relevance between the two, just because of how different the court surfaces are," he said. "We`ve played since that match. So I think people will be talking about it a lot more than I`m thinking about it. I`m just going out and looking to try to get us the lead." Blake will take on Youzhny in the second singles match, while the American doubles powerhouse of Bob and Mike Bryan will play Igor Andreev and Davydenko on Saturday. McEnroe said he wouldn`t be surprised if Tarpischev make a late change to the doubles lineup come Saturday. "I don`t think they probably even know who their doubles team will be," McEnroe said. "That will probably depend somewhat on what happens on Friday." On Sunday Roddick will play Youzhny and Blake will take on Tursunov in the reverse singles. The United States have won a record 31 Davis Cup titles, but haven`t claimed the coveted trophy since 1995, when a Pete Sampras-led squad beat Russia in the final in Moscow. The last time the United States hosted a final was way back in 1992, when they beat Switzerland in Fort Worth, Texas. "I`m excited for these guys because we`ve been to a lot of different places around the world to play Davis Cup ties," McEnroe said. "We`ve been in the final. We`ve had to go to Spain, play a great team there on clay. "So to play at home has been a goal of the team for a long time. We`ll all be a little bit nervous tomorrow," he added. "That`s a good thing. We`ll just try to keep an even keel while at the same time using the energy of the crowd and the energy of the moment." The United States also beat Russia in a first-round tie in 1998. Russia won their second title last year with a triumph over Argentina in the final.