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SAN DIEGO -- The first-round Davis Cup match between Britain and the United States will be played on a clay court in left field at baseballs Petco Park from Jan. 31-Feb. 2. While organizers havent decided if itll be red or green clay, they feel their choice of surface will give the Americans an advantage over Britain, which is expected to be led by defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray. "The feeling is that Murray and anyone below him would have trouble on clay," Jeff Ryan of the U.S. Tennis Association said after a news conference on the infield at the downtown ballpark, home to the San Diego Padres, on Tuesday. "Its not their preferred surface. In between now and then, with Andy still recovering from his surgery and going to Australia and playing there, I dont think theyll have a lot of clay court experience. The home court advantage is right there. Thats it. Were used to getting it against us all the time. Were getting much more comfortable on clay." Organizers havent decided whether itll be red clay, which is made from crushed bricks, or on Har-Tru green clay, which is made from crushed stone. Playing the match on clay probably is a lesser of three evils decision. Murray is best on the speedier surfaces of hard courts and grass, as evidenced by his Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon this year and the U.S. Open in 2012. But hes not afraid of clay, having trained from his teen years on the slow red surface in Spain. He once reached the semifinals at the French Open, something none of the current crop of American men has come close to doing. In addition to that run to the final four in 2011 -- before losing to Rafael Nadal, which is no shame at Roland Garros -- Murray also made it to the quarterfinals in Paris two other times, in 2009 and 2012. Capacity will be about 8,000. Some 2,000 permanent seats in the left field stands will be augmented by about 6,000 more in a temporary stadium built around the court. "I think it creates a lot of excitement," said Bill Kellogg, president of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. "Davis Cup is all about crowd and people and cheering, which is not what people usually think tennis is. That national pride, I dont think it gets any greater than it does in a ballpark." Itll be the first time a Davis Cup match will be played in an open-air ballpark in the United States. The United States is undefeated in six Davis Cup matches in the San Diego area. The Britain-U.S. rivalry is the oldest in Davis Cup history, dating to the first competition in 1900, when the Americans beat the British in Boston. The United States last faced Britain in the 1999 World Group first round in England, winning 3-2 when Jim Courier rallied in the fifth match to beat Greg Rusedski in the fifth set, 8-6. Courier, now the U.S. captain, also won in five sets on the opening day of that match, beating Tim Henman in 4 hours, 12 minutes. The one drawback is that the final day of the match is Super Bowl Sunday. "We would prefer not to have it conflicting with the Super Bowl, but fact is, it will be largely decided by the time the Super Bowl starts," Kellogg said. "Its really not a huge factor in diminishing the appeal of the Davis Cup. In fact, I think it will turn into a great sports day. You get to watch what could be a dramatic finish to the Davis Cup, followed by the Super Bowl." Cheap Air Max 97 White . -- Aaron Rodgers looked fine on the practice field Thursday. Wholesale Air Max 200 . -- Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana agreed Tuesday to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left shoulder. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/ .com) - The Grand Slam season will get underway Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where a new champion will be crowned this year. Cheap Air Max 95 Mens . Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team will include 9th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic and 27th-ranked Viktor Troicki as he decided to let the top-ranked Djokovic rest. Cheap Air Max Tn Plus . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights.ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues went the distance, and then some, to get the jump on the defending Stanley Cup champions. Alexander Steen scored at 26 seconds of the third overtime to cap the longest playoff game in franchise history and give the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night. Steen beat Corey Crawford off a pair of short passes from Steve Ott and David Backes to end the marathon. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock greeted reporters for the postgame news conference with a hearty "Good morning." "Its big. We want to start this series off on a good note," Steen said. "Especially at home in front of our fans." Ryan Miller made 39 saves and blanked the Blackhawks after Patrick Kane scored on a breakaway to put Chicago up 3-2 late in the first period. Jaden Schwartz tied it with 1:45 to go in regulation to send the game into overtime. Alex Pietrangelo logged 44 minutes, 8 seconds of ice time. Two Blackhawks, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson, played more than 40 minutes. Hitchcock called Miller "a difference-maker." "From the second period on, I thought he was great," Hitchcock said. "Both goalies were outstanding." Crawford made 48 saves for Chicago. The Blackhawks werent panicking. "I think the big thing for us is we have to realize its only one game and weve got a quick turnaround coming back," Kane said. "Thats the best part about it, we get right back at it. Game 2 is Saturday afternoon. "Weve got to move ahead," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We knew it was going to be a tough series from the start. We almost got through it." The Blues previous longest overtime game was a 4-3 loss at Detroit in 1984 that extended 37 minutes, 7 seven seconds. The home record for a playoff overtime game was 33:49 of extra time in a 5-4 win over Chicago on April 20, 1989. St. Louis had to kill off delay-of-game penalties for shooting the puck into the stands in the first two overtimes and Quenneville argued vehemently for a second delay of game that would have given Chicago a 5-on-3 advantage in the first OT. The Blackhawks killed off a holding penalty in the second overtime.dddddddddddd Jonathan Toews, like Kane back from a lengthy injury absence, had two assists for Chicago. Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Adam Cracknell all scored their first playoff goal for the Blues. The Blackhawks kept the Blues pinned in their own zone for 2:10 during the first overtime, and Maxim Lapierre made the save of the session getting his body on a drive by Kris Versteeg with less than two minutes remaining. Tarasenko was among the best players coming off a 15-game absence because of a broken thumb. Cracknell tapped in a rebound early in the first to end a scoring drought of 148 minutes and 39 seconds for a team that got shut out the last two games of the regular season. Kane scored his 30th career playoff goal after catching the defence napping at the end of a St. Louis power play, beating Miller off a long lead pass from Toews for a 3-2 lead at 18:24 of the first. Miller allowed three goals on just seven shots in the first with defencemen Johnny Oduya and Brent Seabrook also scoring for Chicago. "They had a couple of nice shots in the first, but I had to come out and battle," Miller said. "Luckily I got ahold of a few of them." St. Louis top line of David Backes, Steen and Ott was a combined minus-5 in the first. Ott was a bit of surprise, considering he was minus-7 during the Blues six-game losing streak to end the regular season. Crawford faced just three shots in the second, but needed big saves to thwart Tarasenko and Ott. He made glove saves on drives by Steen and Tarasenko not long before Schwartz got the equalizer. NOTES: Blues defenceman Jay Bouwmeester, who has the longest consecutive game streak in major sports at 717 games, left in the first overtime and did not return. Hitchcock said Bouwmeester was dehydrated. ... Oduya and Seabrook combined for 10 goals in the regular season. Oduyas goal was first credited to Kris Versteeg on a deflection. ... St. Louis got most of its injured players back but key forward T.J. Oshie (head) and Patrik Burglund (shoulder) were scratches. ... Kane had two goals and four assists against St. Louis in the regular season and Toews had a goal and three assists. ' ' '