Davis Cup: Soderling opens against Andreev

Fourth-ranked Robin Soderling of Sweden will play Russia's Igor Andreev in the opening singles match of their first-round Davis Cup series on Friday.

Soderling has won three titles this year and is the highest ranked player in the matchup.

"He's a good player," Soderling said of Andreev. "We've played a few times before and have had some tough matches."

Thursday's draw also pitted Joachim Johansson against Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second singles match.

Russia is without its two best players, 11th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko. Youzhny announced his Davis Cup retirement last month, while Davydenko asked not to be selected for the series, which will be played on indoor hard courts in Boras.

"We expected that the court surface would be faster," Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev said. "It turned out to be more acceptable for us than we thought, allowing us to play from the baseline and to be creative."

Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt will face Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn in the doubles on Saturday. Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.

Sweden has a 4-1 record against Russia in the Davis Cup but lost the last matchup in 2002.

"The hall is small, and it will probably be very noisy tomorrow," Tursunov said. "We have to be ready for the worst. It's going to be difficult. They'll be cheering against us, shouting, bothering us, which is only natural."

Soderling comes into the series on the back of 2011 tournament wins in Marseille, Rotterdam and Brisbane.

However, the Swedes lack depth in the squad. Both Russian players will expect to beat Johansson, ranked No. 749. The hard-serving 28-year-old Swede rose to No. 9 in the world in 2005 before a recurring shoulder injury almost ended his career.

"I feel I'm in very good shape and have a good chance in both my matches," Johansson said.