Jim Courier hopes to have a healthy Andy Roddick in his squad when he makes his debut as the US Davis Cup captain when the Americans face Chile on outdoor clay in Santiago from March 4-6.

Eighth-ranked Roddick, who withdrew from the Delray Beach ATP event this week because of flu, was named to the US team along with John Isner and Bob and Mike Bryan, the world’s top doubles squad.

“Hopefully, Andy is going to get healthy. He’s got a little bit of the flu,” Courier said.

“But these guys are tough and we’re not excuse makers. We will be ready to play and ready to battle when we get down there.”

Taking a rest before facing extended rallies, potential five-set matches and a hostile crowd was a wise move for Roddick, Courier said.

“Certainly he’s not feeling as well as he would like to, but it seemed to be flu symptoms, which shouldn’t be too severe,” Courier said.

“He should be back on the court here probably by midweek and get some kind of buildup for the Davis Cup. So for him to get rested and ready to go, I think that makes sense. But his confidence should be very high.”

Roddick, who had taken a break from Davis Cup play to focus on his individual career, has been upbeat about coming back under Courier, who replaced Patrick McEnroe.

“Andy is definitely excited about Davis Cup,” Courier said. “Andy has always been passionate about it, and he was very straightforward with Patrick last year that it just wasn’t going to work based on how he was feeling and what he was looking to achieve.

“Davis Cup was something that he wasn’t ruling out long-term, it was just something that he looks at it on a year-by-year basis. And the second that I was named captain and called him, he said, ‘I’m in and let’s go to battle.’

“His leadership from within will be exceptional and certainly something I’ll lean on.”