Mardy Fish aims to get the Americans off to the best possible start against Spain in their Davis Cup quarter-final.
Lopez comes into this tie fresh from taking out Andy Roddick en route to the Wimbledon quarter-finals and unsurprisingly he was selected ahead of the struggling Fernando Verdasco for this crucial opening singles rubber.
Both sides will feel this one is very much in the balance. Fish is currently at a career high of eight in the world and enjoying his best ever season on tour. He also made the Wimbledon quarters, defeating former finalist Tomas Berdych before losing to Rafa Nadal in four sets.
Fish has put in so much work on his fitness and movement over the past year and it has really paid dividends for the 29 year old. He has not had that many chances in the Davis Cup in the past with Roddick and James Blake being the players of choice for most of his career. However he has played more of a role over the past couple of years, scoring two crucial five set wins last September to help his country beat Columbia in the World Group playoffs.
In contrast, Lopez is a Davis Cup veteran (though he has been a mainstay mostly in the doubles for Spain), playing a crucial role in Spain's recent dominance.
Fish leads 3-2 on the head-to-head and most importantly he has won the last three. Look for him to edge this one maybe in four sets.
