The United States tennis team is all set to take on defending champions Spain in the Davis Cup semi-finals in the Spanish port city of Gijon this weekend.

The U.S. will have to bring out their best considering Spain's bench strength, all this even after Rafael Nadal's absence. The Spaniards boast of singles pair of David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro. No wonder their captain Alex Corretja is taking things rather easy.

"We're a slight favorite," 12th-ranked Almagro, who is making a comeback from a sore shoulder, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

But, Almagro chose to underplay the advantage. "'We know about the Americans' great potential. To beat the United States won't be easy, they have a great team, but so does Spain," he said.

The Americans have John Isner and Sam Querrey, ready to shoulder the responsibility against the mighty Spaniards on a surface that is most suited for the opposition. Incidentally, Spain has not lost on clay or on home soil in the last 13 years.

More from the record books -- the U.S. has won its last four ties on clay while Spain has won 25.

Fifth-ranked Ferrer holds the key for the U.S. Even though he has had little time to recover post his U.S. Open semi-final loss to Serbian Novak Djokovic, Ferrer feels he will be ready for Friday's singles match.

"I've recovered from that loss, it was a good tournament for me," Ferrer said. "I take a very positive reading away from my Grand Slam season, and that's given me a lot of confidence and motivation going into the Davis Cup."

Also the U.S. has lost the last two ties between the nations and is without Andy Roddick, the team's mainstay for almost a decade. Roddick decided to retire after his fourth round loss to Juan Martin Del Potro at the U.S. Open.

However, under the captaincy of Grand Slam winner Jim Courier, the U.S. has chalked up back-to-back away wins in Switzerland (5-0), where Isner shocked Roger Federer, and France (3-2) where he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the decisive rubber.

Courier is confident his boys can claim another scalp. "It's the ultimate task, going into Spain and playing them on red clay, where they haven't lost in a long time," Courier had told reporters during the U.S. Open in New York.

"We certainly aren't the favorites and we felt that way in the first two matches as well. We've had the toughest draw you can have in Davis Cup."

The second semi-final takes place in Buenos Aires with Argentina taking on the Czech Republic.