The last time Pete Sampras laced them up and played a sanctioned grass court tennis match in the United States was nearly 15 years ago -- an eternity in sports. Sampras, who had just turned 16, won a doubles title with Matt Lucena in the 1987 USTA International Grass Court Championships. The singles winner that day was one Todd Martin, then a spry and springy 17.

	Todd Martin is the only returning member of the U.S. Davis Cup team that lost to Spain last year.

When the U.S. Davis Cup team meets Spain in Friday's quarterfinals at the Westside Tennis Club in Houston, Sampras returns to his (grass) roots in the hope of recapturing some of the heat that made him the greatest grass player ever. His record in 27 career tournaments on grass is 99-17 and he's won 10 titles -- seven of them at Wimbledon.

"It is on grass, a surface that when I walk on it I feel pretty much at home," Sampras said Monday in Houston. "Hopefully, this week can get my confidence going. There is no reason to panic just as long as I am working hard."

Sampras, 30, seems to have lost his way in the waning years of his marvelous career. His streak of winless tournaments has grown to 24, all the way back to Wimbledon 2000. Just last week he was bounced in straight sets by qualifier Fernando Gonzalez in his second match at the Tennis Masters Series event in Miami.

"I think one of the reasons that Pete has said he wants to play Davis Cup is to not have many matches like that," U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said. "You know, to have these matches in Davis Cup where he can get inspired and get some adrenaline going and play with the fire, which I didn't see.

"Obviously, playing on grass, I think, will help him, will help our team against them. But, sure, I'm concerned more for how Pete does all year. I want to see him do well. I think obviously on grass and with the atmosphere of Davis Cup, I don't think he'll have any trouble getting up for that."

The same is true of the rest of America's team: Martin, Andy Roddick and James Blake. You see, there is a little history between these two squads. When they met in the 2000 semifinals, Spain did everything it could -- from the oh-so-slow clay venue in Santander to the ridiculous, rowdy fans -- to make life miserable for the Americans. Spain spanked the U.S., 5-0, on the way to the Davis Cup title and even though Martin was the only current team member in the lineup, the Americans are still steaming.

	Spain's hopes rested on Juan Carlos Ferrero who is out with a stress fracture in his foot.

Martin was asked Monday how uncomfortable the 2000 match against Spain was for the players.

"If uncomfortable is getting your clock cleaned and having to hear confirmation that you are getting your clock cleaned for three straight days, then, yeah, it was pretty uncomfortable," he said.

Martin was laughing as he said that, and while this year's team stopped short of describing this as a quest for revenge, the Americans want to win badly.

"We want to do right by the guys that were there," McEnroe said. "That means, yeah, we want to beat them. We want to get them back."

What goes around, as they say, comes around.

And so, the Americans chose the emerald surface that gives those Barcelona baseliners all kinds of allergic reactions: the green, green grass of home. This is only the second time since 1959 that the U.S. has chosen to play a tie on grass; it's a balky surface and hard to find in North America. Unlike clay, grass is lightning quick -- the perfect complement to the blinding serves of Sampras and Roddick and the serve-and-volley skills of Martin and, yes, even Blake. The courts at Westside are under the care of David Kimpton, the groundskeeper from England's venerable Queen's Club. There is a good foot of English soil that arrived recently in 32 ship containers. And though the players reported Monday that the grass is long and a tad slow, by Friday it should be a blazing fast surface.

Not surprisingly, the Americans have had great success on grass. Sampras has an unimpeachable 62-6 record at Wimbledon, and Martin, a two-time semifinalist there, is a nifty 29-9. Roddick got to the third round in his first appearance a year ago and Blake, who will play the All-England Club for the first time this year, reached his first ATP semifinal last season on the grass at Newport Casino. The Americans' collective record at Wimbledon is a towering 93-16.

The Spaniards -- Alex Corretja, Alberto Martin, Tony Robredo and Juan Balcells –- are a dismal 6-8. Corretja has passed on Wimbledon the past three years and has played there only three times in his 11-year professional career, never getting past the second round. While Corretja is the team's most decorated member, Martin, 23, has had the most success on grass, relatively speaking. He reached the third round at Wimbledon in 1999.

This might have been an interesting match if Juan Carlos Ferrero, ranked fifth on the ATP last year, was in the lineup. After suffering a stress fracture in his right foot at the Miami event -- while he was in the process of defeating Martin, of all people -- Ferrero will sit this one out. Without Ferrero, the Spaniards may struggle to win a single match.

Sampras, along with Roddick, will play singles, but Martin, who has patiently been part of the past two squads without playing, may get a crack at singles, too. For now, Blake and Martin are penciled in for Saturday's doubles match, but even Sampras has been practicing for doubles.

McEnroe is confident. "We're the favorites," he said. "We should win. We expect to win on grass."

The fact that McEnroe became team captain in 2001 can be traced directly to the last match with Spain. His brother, John McEnroe, was so disgusted by the result that he quit as U.S. captain, creating space for his younger brother. It was Patrick who helped to pull Sampras back into the Davis Cup fold, a turn of events they hope will be mutually beneficial.

"Now that my ranking is not quite as important to me, there is no question that Davis Cup means something," said Sampras, once the game's top player who now carries a No. 20 ranking. "Playing for your teammates and your country, there is a sense of urgency that I need to feel as I have gotten a little bit older.

"You push harder and you dig deeper, and I need to be in those situations."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com