After nearly two years of separation anxiety, Pete Sampras and the U.S. Davis Cup team are back together -- because they need each other.

	Pete Sampras hopes Davis Cup action gets him pumped up again.

But truth be told, Sampras may need Davis Cup more than it needs him.

After losing in last year's first round and being forced to qualify for the 2002 campaign, the U.S. team can use some of Sampras' star power and experience. After going 19 months without a title and five years without a Grand Slam singles title other than Wimbledon, the 30-year-old is hoping a young, exuberant team and some manic flag-waving will get his adrenaline going again.

"I felt like there's certain times of the year that I had a hard time getting going," Sampras said last week. "Davis Cup is definitely ... it means something. You are playing for your teammates, playing for your country, and in these situations it inspires me.

"It's just a unique event that I need to put myself into because there's no question you get motivated to play Davis Cup."

In case you have been absorbed by Super Bowl XXXVI and missed it: the U.S. plays host to the Slovak Republic in first-round action beginning Friday in Oklahoma City. (Friday, ESPN, 2 p.m. ET; Saturday, ESPN2, 4 p.m. ET; Sunday, ESPN, 2 p.m. ET.)

The U.S. team has a decidedly split personality. Sampras and 31-year-old Todd Martin represent old-school tennis, while Andy Roddick (19), James Blake (22) and Mardy Fish (20) wear their hats backward and listen to Blink 182 and Puddle of Mud. Sampras and Martin have played in 30 Davis Cup ties between them, with a collective record of 32-22, while the youngsters have three ties and a 5-0 record.

Sampras and Roddick are expected to play the four singles matches, with the doubles team coming from the other three, most likely Martin and Blake.

Both countries struggled last year, losing in the first round. The U.S. defeated India 4-1 last October, while the Slovak Republic scrapped its way past Chile 3-2 in September. The Slovaks, who have been playing independently from Czechoslovakia since 1994, are represented by Dominik Hrbaty and Karol Kucera, anonymous but formidable players who have beaten Sampras before.

The hardcourt in Oklahoma City will help Sampras and Roddick maximize their power against the Slovaks, who are more comfortable on clay. American tennis fans can take comfort in this fact: In 101 years of Davis Cup play, encompassing 248 ties, the U.S. has never lost a first-round match at home.

	Andy Roddick's youthful passion for the game is something Sampras hopes is contagious on the U.S. Davis Cup team.

Sampras, for one, is planning on a victory. After committing to a full season of Davis Cup, as far as it goes, Sampras withdrew from the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston in anticipation of a second-round match in April.

Being Pete Sampras has never been easy, but after he won his 13th Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 2000 -- a men's record -- his motivation waned, as did the fear he inspired in opponents. Sampras found it harder and harder to put in the work necessary to succeed at the level he is accustomed to. The daunting 19-month streak without a tournament victory is the price he has paid.

Now, he says, he is changing his approach in several important areas. After reaching four finals last year, including the U.S. Open, but never converting, Sampras has gone back to his old work ethic. When hockey great Wayne Gretzky told him he had to start working harder to compensate for old age, Sampras listened. The work began over the last several months of the 2001 season, after he was filleted by Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets during the U.S. Open final. He finished the season at No. 10, his lowest ranking in a dozen years.

Although Sampras was bounced from the Australian Open's Round of 16 by old U.S. Open nemesis Marat Safin, he looked alert and engaged.

"Just tried to really put in a big effort with the training, trying to get myself in good shape," Sampras said. "Definitely have high expectations like I have always had going into the year. Would have been nice to have started off the year with a win. But I am not going to get too down."

The other big change is a new coach, Tom Gullikson, which completes a circle of sorts. Gone is Paul Annacone, who stepped in seven years ago when Tim Gullikson was diagnosed with brain cancer. Sampras said he didn't blame his lack of results on Annacone, but practice, among other things, got "a little bit stale."

Added Sampras: "It was a big decision because I am such a creature of habit. I don't like a lot of changes and to go out of my comfort zone was a big deal. But it happens. It was more just the energy we had out there and having kind of a fresh voice was something that I think I was needing."

And then there is the return to Davis Cup.

U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe repeated this message to Sampras whenever he had the opportunity last year: "Davis Cup can be good for you. Davis Cup is an event that's emotional, that's intense. You have to play your best tennis. There's a lot of pressure."

Said McEnroe: "I think it's a perfect situation for him because he needs these types of matches now to keep himself motivated. I think we saw at the Australian Open with how well he played that he is still very motivated. He's in excellent condition. But I think Davis Cup is a way to keep his motivation there throughout the course of a long year.

"After what I saw in Australia, I thought 2002 could be a good year for him. You know what a good year is, in his definition, winning a major; a great year is winning two. Certainly, either at Wimbledon -- the French is obviously a long-shot -- or the (U.S.) Open."

Sampras has helped the U.S. win two Davis Cup titles, in 1992 and 1995. Sampras' last appearance in red, white and blue was April 2000, when he won the final match in 3-2 victory over Czech Republic at The Forum in Los Angeles. The team advanced to the semifinals but Sampras was forced to withdraw with tendonitis in his left shin.

This year, Sampras believes, winning one or even two majors is not out of the question.

"I think the drive, if anything, has gotten more because having not gotten that success last year," Sampras said. "You win majors consistently and you have a year when you don't win a major, if anything I want to get back up there. The focus is still there. It's just a matter of going out there and winning tennis matches."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com