PARIS -- The United States will play defending champion France at Roland Garros, the home of the French Open, in the Davis Cup semifinals in September.

"Playing the United States on clay, it's a strategic choice," Christian Bimes, the president of the French Tennis Federation, said Friday in announcing the site of the Sept. 20-22 series.

Russia faces Argentina in the other semifinal.

Unlike Americans, French players grow up playing on clay.

"Pete Sampras will ask himself many questions before this meeting," Bimes said.

Sampras has a men's record 13 Grand Slam titles but has never advanced past the semifinals at the French Open. Last year he exited in the second round. Also, Andy Roddick reached the third round in his first appearance at Roland Garros.

However, France's Nicolas Escude also has a poor record on the surface. He clinched the Davis Cup title for France in last year's final against Australia, but was dropped for this year's first-round series against the Netherlands because it was on clay.

"It's the greatest meeting possible and imaginable," Bimes said of the semifinal against the United States.

He said he thought Andre Agassi, who won the French Open in 1999, might be tempted to play because "a meeting like that can't be missed."

Agassi didn't play in the Davis Cup quarterfinal against Spain, which the U.S. team won 3-1 on grass in Houston. The fifth match was canceled because of rain.

The last encounter between France and the United States at Roland Garros was in the 1932 final, which France won 3-2. France hasn't played there since 1982, when it defeated Czechoslovakia in a quarterfinal.

There are no covered courts at Roland Garros, but in case of bad weather the three-day event can be extended by two days.

Bimes said he asked Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe to provide covers for practice courts. But French federation spokesman Christophe Proust said it was too complicated to cover the 15,000-seat Central Court.