MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS yesterday ruled himself out of Davis Cup duty against Brazil, but he still wants to play the lucrative Ericsson Open in Florida next week.

Australian captain John Fitzgerald has named a seven-man squad to tackle hometown hero Gustavo Kuerten, a slow clay court and 10,000 passionate fans in Florianopolis from April 6-8.

Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Andrew Ilie, Wayne Arthurs, Jason Stoltenberg, Richard Fromberg and Scott Draper were selected after Philippoussis declared his knee would not stand up to a David Cup tie.

The Scud was hampered by knee troubles while losing to American Mardy Fish at Indian Wells this week and his omission from the cup quarter-final was not totally unexpected.

However, his desire to play in the US next week will inevitably raise the usual suspicions about his national commitment given his frustratingly sporadic appearances in recent years.

"His knee is not 100 per cent, I watched him play here in Indian Wells and his movement was not great so he feels he can't take the risk," Fitzgerald said from the US.

"He's as disappointed as I am, obviously, because I'd love to have him there."

Philippoussis's hobbling effort against Fish was worrying given that an arthroscopy last December was supposed to be a cure-all for his well documented cartilage damage.

He made a remarkable comeback three weeks ago by winning the Memphis Open but playing five consecutive matches took its toll on his knee.

Philippoussis vowed this week to be more "selfish" in caring for his body in future and "if that means missing out on Davis Cup, that means missing out on Davis Cup".

"I assume Mark is going to try and play this week," Fitzgerald said in relation to the lucrative Ericsson Open.

Fitzgerald, who spoke at length with Philippoussis's coach Peter McNamara before announcing his squad, said he understood the Scud's decision.

"If Mark did go down and play against Kuerten on the first day, for instance, that would be about as trying as it could get on his body," he said.

"I know from experience that if you play a lot quickly after you haven't played for quite a while some problems can arise.

"Peter is very worried about the knee and he felt to play someone like Guga (Kuerten) down there in those conditions would be too much, too early.

"Let's hope he doesn't have another problem . . . if you've had problems in that area with knee cartilage early in your career then it is a worry."

It's certain the series will be a battle of stamina, skill and patience in gruelling matches taking more than three hours.

Philippoussis's absence from the cup quarter-final has not dampened Fitzgerald's confidence in Australia's ability to defend the Cup.

"I think there are a lot of captains around the world who would give their right arm to have a team as confident as this one,"he said.

Rafter and Hewitt scored third-round victories over Spaniard Alex Corretja and Czech Bohdan Ulihrach respectively at the Indian Wells Masters Series tournament yesterday.