Russia's Davis Cup coach says there is no chance of Marat Safin being drafted in for this weekend's final against the United States.
Watch coverage of this weekend's Davis Cup final on Sky Sports
Russia coach Shamil Tarpishchev has said that there is no chance of Marat Safin being drafted in as a late replacement for this weekend's Davis Cup final against the United States.
After playing a central role in his country's Davis Cup triumph last year - Russia beating the United States 3-2 in the semi-finals before beating Argentina in the final itself - former world number one Safin has been struggling to come back from a knee injury.
He was therefore left out of the squad announced last month, with world number four Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, Igor Andreev and Dmitry Tursunov all representing the holders during the three-day tie, which gets underway in Portland on Friday.
And, speaking through an interpreter, Tarpishchev was certain that the quartet chosen was the best Russia had to offer, saying: "This is our strongest team. I think that these guys play better than Marat and he is not going to be here."
'US start as favourites'
Nevertheless, Tarpishchev believes that the United States start as favourites for the event - just as Russia did last year when both the semi-final and the final were played in Moscow.
And he also claimed that, as opposed to the clay courts of Moscow, the quicker surface at the Memorial Coliseum mitigated against his team.
"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 continued.
"Here we'll be playing on a faster surface and, of course, the serve and volley will be important factors.
"This is why it's much harder to use tactical elements here. Obviously, the surface makes one team stronger and diminishes the capacities in some way of the other team.
"This is why I thought that back in Moscow we had a slight advantage over the American team. Here, however, I think the American team has this advantage."
The United States - looking for their first Davis Cup victory in 12 years, when, incidentally, they won on clay in Moscow - will be represented by Andy Roddick, James Blake and the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike.
