OKLAHOMA CITY -- Andy Roddick says his injured right ankle is fine, and he's ready to help the United States win its first-round Davis Cup match against Slovakia this week.

Roddick hasn't played since the second round of the Australian Open, where he retired in the second set after twisting his ankle against Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

"It feels good," Roddick said Monday after practicing at the Myriad Convention Center, where the Davis Cup match begins Friday. "I started playing probably five days ago. It's been recovering well. I've started playing points and sets and it's been responding well, so I'm optimistic for this weekend."

Roddick and Pete Sampras are expected to play singles for the U.S. team. The doubles team is likely to come from among the other team members -- Todd Martin, Mardy Fish and James Blake.

Roddick looks to continue a perfect record in Davis Cup play. He is 3-0, all in singles, having won both his matches in October during a qualifying round victory over India in Winston-Salem, N.C., and winning a match against Switzerland last February when the U.S. team lost 3-2 in the first round.

Roddick's first taste of Davis Cup came in 1992 when, as a 10-year-old, he watched the United States beat Switzerland for the title in Fort Worth, Texas. He said that fostered his desire to play on the U.S. team.

"I saw 'em win and saw 'em run around with the flag afterward and playing 'Proud to be an American' and all that stuff," he said. "It's just been with me ever since. I think it's a great honor. I'm actually humbled by the fact that I get to do something like this."

At 19, Roddick is part of the younger set on this team. Martin (31) and Sampras (30) are the veterans. Blake is 22, Fish 21 and practice player Alex Bogomolov is 19. Blake went 2-0 against India, his only Davis Cup experience; Blake was a practice partner in 2000 but has not played a match.

Team captain Patrick McEnroe said he likes the mix of youth and veterans, and so does Roddick.

"The way I look at it is it's a great opportunity for me to learn from them," he said. "As far as from their standpoint, I don't know how much they're going to learn from me."

Martin said there's plenty to be gained from playing and practicing with Roddick and the other young players.

"This week we've got four guys 22 and under, and I think that's a healthy experience for guys who are Pete's and my age," Martin said. "You come and see how they play -- because they play a little bit of a different game than guys my age do.

"We can learn from that, realizing that certain shots are feasible that we didn't used to think so. And also we get to see mistakes they make that we used to make and probably don't as much anymore.

"Also just their energy level, just back at the hotel or on the court. It's different from ours and that's infectious."

Roddick said one reason he enjoys Davis Cup is the crowds are more rowdy than at regular tour events. He compared them to football crowds, a sport he knows something about having been born in Nebraska. A big Cornhuskers fan playing in Oklahoma, he asked the locals to cut him some slack.

"Everybody here's going to have to forgive me for at least this week for that one," he said.