ESPN Tennis

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- It's probably only coincidence that during the Swedish team press conference Jonas Bjorkman's name card remained the last one visible.

Or perhaps it's a reflection of the fact that Bjorkman, 32, is scheduled to play two singles matches and the doubles during Sweden's tie with the United States this weekend.

Whether it's an omen or mere chance, Swedish captain Mats Wilander, who holds a 43-18 Davis Cup record, put a lot of faith in Bjorkman's stamina and skill.

If there could be a favorable draw in a situation where you're outranked, Sweden probably got it. Bjorkman plays Mardy Fish in the first match of the tie, rather than Andy Roddick. Meanwhile, Roddick plays Thomas Enqvist, who holds a 2-1 record against Roddick. Gaining a split on day one is critical; the last thing any team wants to do is head into the doubles on Saturday down 0-2.

If the draw fell the other way, Roddick would open against Bjorkman (Roddick leads head-to-head matchup 3-2 all-time), while Fish (2-0) would get Enqvist. Now, if Fish and Enqvist meet in a live rubber, it would be in a crucial fifth (and final) match where experience, not record, weighs heavily.

"Davis Cup, the rankings are thrown out the window," Wilander said. "It's the matchup on the day. It's how they play. I would never go into a Davis Cup match thinking we're not the favorites."

Bjorkman and Fish only met once before, on grass in 2003, with Fish winning in three sets. This weekend's match will be played on a slow, hard court.

Despite that, Fish said he plans to come to the net in an effort to finish the points quickly.

"I think we'll both make it into a faster-court-type game," Fish said. "I'm definitely going to try to do that. I'm sure his game is altered toward that, as well."

Fish is happy to be taking the lead for the United States. In 2003, on the first day against Slovakia, Fish followed Roddick, who lost his singles match, leaving it on Fish's shoulders to keep the United States from heading into the doubles 0-2.

"I think I would prefer to kind of take the pressure off Andy, and put us up 1-0," Fish said. "That's obviously the goal."

But nothing is ever that simple in Davis Cup, when players are fighting for their country. It was Bjorkman who clinched Sweden's 4-1 victory in Adelaide to upset defending champion Australia in February. Talk about a confidence boost.

"It's nice to get a win like that because I think we feel that, away we're more of a team, there are less distractions," said Wilander, who prefers to play big countries at home because of the pressure they face.

If it becomes necessary, Bjorkman, who lost in the second round of the Nasdaq-100 Open 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to Andy Roddick two weeks ago, will play Roddick in the reverse singles on Sunday.

"He's really athletic," Roddick said of Bjorkman after their match. "He gets going one way or another. Definitely, the thing with Jonas is when you hit a passing shot, you have to hit it hard. Otherwise, he's going to put it away."

Despite Bjorkman's loss against Roddick, Wilander said he was encouraged by the performance and likes Bjorkman's chances with Fish.

"Mardy is pretty new to this, and Jonas is not," Wilander said.

Bjorkman said he's playing his best tennis right now and can be a challenge to anyone even if Fish has played well the past six months.

"He's very talented, serving well, and he improved his forehand a lot," Bjorkman said about Fish. "The rest of the game has always been solid, so I have to sort of try to get the serve back and hopefully get him to move a little bit."

Roddick plays Enqvist in Friday's second match. Enqvist said it's a challenge to play Roddick, but he knows how to defeat him. It's not all bluster, either. Enqvist has defeated Roddick two times before on hard court, most recently in the quarterfinals of Memphis in February, 7-6 (8), 6-3.

"He's obviously No. 2 in the world," Enqvist said. "Hard courts is his best surface, I would say, even if he's an all-around player. But I think I know what I need to do to have a chance to beat him."

He's not giving away the details on how, though, until after their match.

Cynthia Faulkner is the tennis editor for ESPN.com.