Davydenko to lead Russia in Davis Cup semis

MOSCOW, Sep 9 (Reuters) World number four Nikolay Davydenko will lead defending champions Russia in this month's Davis Cup semi-final against Germany in Moscow.

Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev named a formidable squad which also included former world number one Marat Safin, 11th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny, Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Andreev, for the September 21-23 tie on clay at the Olympic sports complex.

''All five are ready to play so in the next few days I'm going to have to leave out one player and make him the alternate,'' Tarpishchev told Reuters today.

Davydenko has been particularly impressive recently, reaching the last four at the US Open without dropping a set before losing to world number one Roger Federer in Saturday's semi-finals.

Davydenko, Safin, Andreev and Youzhny all contributed to Russia's 3-2 victory over France in the quarter-finals, also on clay in Moscow in April.

Germany are expected to name their team later this week.

Sweden take on the United States in the other semi-final.

Reuters SSC DB2108