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Team USA - Davis Cup

37K views 148 replies 12 participants last post by  heike308 
#1 · (Edited)
I can't seem to find a thread for this topic, so I am going to start a new one.
It is easier to post pictures here than going into each player thread, too much work :lol:.

Congrats to Team USA on their victory over the favored Swiss Team 3-0 on indoor clay.

Round 1 World Group


FRIBOURG, SWITZERLAND: It was a result no one could have predicted. USA have swept aside Switzerland 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals and leave Roger Federer's Davis Cup record in tatters.

Mike Bryan combined with Mardy Fish, who defeated Wawrinka in five sets on Friday, winning the doubles rubber 46 63 63 63.

.......A stunning display on day one put USA in a dominant position in this blockbuster Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round clash in Fribourg. Wawrinka went down to Fish 26 64 64 16 79 in the opening rubber, before Federer lost his 15-match unbeaten Davis Cup singles run by falling in four sets to the big serving John Isner.

Link
 
#88 ·
Re: Team USA - Davis Cup - 2013 1st round against Brazil (Feb 1-3)

Team nominations

USA v Brazil

Venue: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
Location: Jacksonville, USA
Surface: Indoor hard

USA
John Isner
Sam Querrey
Mike Bryan
Bob Bryan
Jim Courier (captain)

Brazil
Thomaz Bellucci
Thiago Alves
Marcelo Melo
Bruno Soares
Joao Luis Zwetsch (captain)
 
#89 ·
John Isner Not Sure He’ll Be 100 Percent For Davis Cup

http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/8928

After missing the Australian Open due to a bone bruise in his right knee, John Isner may not be fully recovered for this week’s U.S. Davis Cup team’s first round match against Brazil in Jacksonville, Florida.

“I can’t say if I’ll be 100 percent in three or four days,” Isner was quoted in the Greensboro News-Record, his hometown newspaper, in an article published Monday. “I just don’t know. I’ll give it a try this week and see how it goes. I do know I won’t take any chances and risk the rest of the season. If I can play, I’ll play. If I can’t, I’ll wait.”

Isner told the News-Record’s Jeff Mills that a recent MRI showed reduced swelling. Isner also said to the News-Record that doctors had told him that his recovery could take four to six weeks.

Isner, ranked No. 16 in the ATP rankings is joined on the U.S. team by No. 20 ranked Sam Querrey and the doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan.

Isner, as the U.S. No. 1 player, is set to play against the Brazilian No. 2 player, Thiago Alves, ranked No.141, Friday during the first day of play in the best-of-five match series if Alves is the No. 2 nominated singles player as expected. Querrey, as the U.S. No. 2 player, will play the dangerous Brazilian No. 1 player Thomaz Bellucci, who is ranked No. 36, also on Friday.

If Isner gives it a go, he would be heavily favored to beat Alves in the faster indoor conditions, even if he was not playing at 100 percent. If Querrey is able to beat Bellucci, the U.S. would take a commanding 2-0 lead into Saturday’s doubles match, where the Bryan twins, fresh off winning their all-time men’s record 13th major doubles title, would be heavy favorites to clinch the series by a 3-0 margin by beating likely Brazilian doubles team of Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo, who reached the quarterfinals at last year’s Olympics, beating Isner and Andy Roddick en route. Isner, as the U.S. No. 1, is scheduled to play the Brazilian No. 1, Bellucci, in Sunday’s opening reverse singles match with Querrey and Alves closing out the best-of-five match series.

Should Isner not be able to compete this week, U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier can substitute another singles player just prior to Thursday official Davis Cup draw ceremony. Both Bob and Mike Bryan currently do not have ATP singles rankings, although both have played “dead rubber” singles matches for the U.S. after a match has been clinched. The next highest ranked American player in the ATP singles rankings is Mardy Fish at No. 31, but Fish is still recovering from a heart condition and has not competed since he was forced to withdraw from a fourth-round match with Roger Federer at the U.S. Open in September. The retired Andy Roddick is still ranked at No. 41 and is the next highest ranked player, followed by No. 53 Brian Baker, who is out until late March due to a knee injury suffered at the Australian Open. Ryan Harrison, who played for the U.S. against France in last year’s quarterfinals, is the next highest ranked player at No. 57.

Isner said that missing the Australian Open is not the best omen for his 2013 season.

“I think it has set me back, to be honest,” Isner said to the News-Record. “You want to get off to a good start at the beginning of the year in Australia. And I wasn’t able to do that because of the injury. … It wasn’t great timing, but there’s nothing else I can do. I could’ve loaded up on some anti-inflammatories and given it a shot, but I wasn’t in any shape to go there and try to compete.”
 
#91 ·
Re: Team USA - Davis Cup - 2013 1st round against Brazil (Feb 1-3)

Q. John, can you talk about what you've been doing to get ready and stay in shape the last couple weeks and how is the knee?
JOHN ISNER: It's definitely been feeling better. I've been doing everything I can to try to get this better.
Really, once I pulled out of Australia, there wasn't much I could do besides rest. Rest was the most important thing. I can ice it five, six times a day. I can do some treatment on it. But the most important thing for me was rest. I definitely have that.
My knee, it is feeling better. Hopefully I'll be able to go on Friday. I would really like that. We have to see how this week progresses.

Q. Jim, can you talk about your backup plan should John not be ready.
CAPTAIN COURIER: Sure. Well, John is here and obviously we're hopeful he's going to be prepared to play come Friday. But we have Ryan Harrison, as well, practicing with us. Ryan is certainly prepared to step in should John not be ready to go.

Q. Is Mardy Fish a possibility?
CAPTAIN COURIER: Mardy is here. We're glad to have him practicing with the team. He's building back up to be at tour level. He's not going to be quite ready to go here.

Q. Bob and Mike, you'll likely face Marcelo and Bruno. Can you talk about that matchup, given how crucial the doubles rubber is.
BRYAN: I mean, those guys are tough. We're not taking them lightly at all. Like you said, they have beaten us in the past. Soares is hot. They both won titles this year. They're playing well.
Even though we have a lot of confidence, we're definitely going to be preparing well here on this court and using all our experience and coaching from Dave and Jim to put together the best game plan possible to beat them.

Q. Can you talk about the kids clinic today, how much fun you had. The little boy who won the contest, what did you think about him?
SAM QUERREY: The kids clinic was great. I think we had a fun time. There were a lot more kids than everyone thought. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. They have a great D.J. who was getting everyone excited with the cheers.
The kids had fun playing. Maybe they can incorporate some tennis into some PE. I think everyone had a great time.
It was pretty exciting for the kid who wrote the essay, the school we got to go to and hang out. It was a good idea from the school, great that that young boy wrote a good essay.

Q. The Brazil team was in earlier. They talked about the fast surface in doubles, how they're fine with it. You don't want to give away strategy, but what are you going to have to negate from what you've seen playing against them on tour?
BRYAN: I mean, it is a fast surface. Luckily the last couple weeks we were playing on a pretty fast surface at the Open.
I wouldn't consider them like a huge serving team. They serve well. Soares likes to stay back and rip from the ground. They're a good poaching team.
We're just going to have to play really solid doubles. They're one of the few teams that have beaten us.
BRYAN: A lot of teams beat us the last 250 matches.
BRYAN: The few teams that have beaten us in Davis Cup.
We're going to have to play solid and 'negate', whatever the definition of that is.

Q. What do you have to take away from them?
BRYAN: We're going to have to remove a lot of things. I think Soares is the strong returner on the team. That's what he makes his living doing. We're going to have to serve him tough, put some pressure on the return.
Melo is a good mover, pretty good serve. He's a tall guy.
I don't want to give away the details, but we're going to have to play a really good match over a few hours to beat these guys.

Q. Jim, in your third year as captain of this team, can you talk about what you have learned in your two previous years, anything you may want to do differently than you have in the past.

CAPTAIN COURIER: Well, I think I've learned how to integrate with these guys. These guys collectively have a pretty nice wealth of Davis Cup experience. So I was the outsider coming in.
I think we're comfortable with each other now having been through the fires in various places around the world together. So that's a good starting point. I think we have a pretty good routine going now and we're pretty comfortable together.
As far as what I want to do better, I want to stand here at some point with a trophy in all of our hands. Other than that, it's been fantastic. Just win, baby.

Q. Jim and John, Brazil was just back for the World Group. It was very emotional. How is Davis Cup for you guys? People are going to be supporting not only you, but Team USA, the nation.
JOHN ISNER: It's an incredible honor I know for me, and I know for these guys sitting beside me. Also, as well, Captain Courier. The Bryan brothers have been doing it for 10 years. That just shows their commitment and how much they enjoy Davis Cup and how much they enjoy representing their country.
Sam has always answered the call when his name has been called, and same for me.
I think I speak for everyone when I say it's a huge, huge honor. We're excited to finally, myself and Sam, to play on home soil. We've never played a match in the U.S. I think both of us are looking forward to that.
As the captain said, this match is the first step towards our goal. We're going to go out there and enjoy it and try to get it done.
CAPTAIN COURIER: Nothing from me to really add to that.

Q. Bob, since we're here in Florida, is Micaela going to be making her first Davis Cup trip?
BOB BRYAN: We'll see on Saturday how she feels. She's coming on Thursday, it's her first birthday. We may have a little cake, celebrate in the room, come to root these guys on Friday.

Q. Bob and Mike, you've been part of this for 10 years. How important is playing in front of a U.S. crowd at home? How much of a support will that be compared to the Brazilians coming in here?
BRYAN: It's really fun. It's a unique experience to play in front of your home crowd in Davis Cup. We're a team that feeds off the energy. We love it.
These guys are going to be loving it, too. Been getting booed the last few years on the road.
It's a huge advantage. I think we're all going to feed off of it this weekend.

Q. Who have you practiced against while you're here? Is it the same two guys? Do you have your own guys?
BRYAN: We have a lot of different practice options. We have Mardy Fish. Harrison is here ready to go. Jack Sock and Bradley Klahn. Bradley played Sanford, he's a lefty. Those are two guys you should see in the top 100 in the next couple years.

Q. Jim, you said you have Ryan ready to go in case John doesn't show up. How is the decision going to be made? Is it only the pain?
CAPTAIN COURIER: Well, we have a great medical support team here who will certainly make a decision whether John is fit to play or not. That will be one portion of the decision. The rest of it will just be between John and probably me and Jay Berger, our coach, as well to see if he's ready to go.
By Thursday when the draw comes out, we'll name our firm four‑player team, the Brazilians will do the same, and we'll know what the options are from there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
 
#93 ·
#102 ·
Re: Team USA - Davis Cup - 2013 1st round against Brazil (Feb 1-3)

Day 3

R4: Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) d. John Isner (USA) 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7) 4-6 6-3
R5: Sam Querrey (USA) d. Thiago Alves (BRA) 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3)

USA def. Brazil 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinal against Serbia

Good job by Sam to recover after failing to serve for the match/tie in the 4th set.

Btw, Jacksonville..what kind of crowd is that :eek:
 
#105 ·
US Versus Serbia Davis Cup Quarterfinal to be Held in Boise

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., February 3, 2013 – The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier announced today that Boise, Idaho, has been selected as the site for the 2013 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas quarterfinal match between the United States and Serbia, April 5-7. The matches will be played at the Taco Bell Arena on the campus of Boise State University, which will have an expected capacity of approximately 11,700.

The event is being organized, staged and promoted by the USTA. Tickets will go on sale to the general public in late-February. For more information, fans can call the U.S. Davis Cup hotline at (888) 484-8782 or visit www.usta.com/daviscup.

The best-of-five match series begins Friday, April 5, with two singles matches, featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Saturday’s schedule features the pivotal doubles match, and the final day of play on Sunday includes two “reverse singles” matches, where the No. 1 players square off followed by the No. 2 players going head-to-head. All matches are best-of-five sets until one country wins three matches.

This will be the second consecutive home tie for the U.S. Davis Cup team after winning the 2013 World Group First Round in Jacksonville, Fla., against Brazil. This will be just the third home match as U.S. Davis Cup Captain for Courier and just the fourth home tie for the U.S. since 2009. In that time, the U.S. team has played seven road matches–all on clay. The U.S. is 110-16 all-time in Davis Cup ties played at home. Idaho is the 34th state to host a U.S. Davis Cup tie.

This match will mark just the second meeting between the U.S. and Serbia in Davis Cup competition. Serbia won the only meeting, 3-2, in the 2010 World Group First Round in Belgrade by a Novak Djokovic-led team. Serbia is only one of three countries to have a winning record against the U.S. Davis Cup Team.

Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage of the U.S. vs. Serbia Davis Cup match.

The site selection is subject to final approval by the International Tennis Federation.

The winner of the United States and Serbia tie will play in the semifinals, September 13-15.
http://www.tennispanorama.com/archi...nis&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Jacksonville, now Boise :scratch: Why don't they go with large metros?
 
#106 ·
U.S. plans to use Querrey, Isner against Djokovic in Davis Cup

I prefer Mardy over John.

BOISE, Idaho (AP)—U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier plans to face No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Serbia in the quarterfinals with the same group — Sam Querrey, John Isner, twins Bob and Mike Bryan — that beat Brazil in the first round.

The United States hosts Serbia in Boise, Idaho, on April 5-7. The matches will be played on an indoor hard court.

Courier won't officially announce his roster until 10 days before facing Serbia. He said Wednesday that "assuming everyone's healthy, I think we'll field the same squad as we did'' during a 3-2 victory over Brazil at Jacksonville, Fla., last month. Querrey beat Thiago Alves in the final match.

Courier says he's still trying to decide exactly how slow a surface to use in Boise.
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013...ey-isner-against-djokovic/46771/#.UUDk0FfheJQ
 
#107 ·
Re: Team USA - Davis Cup - 2013 Up next Serbia in the quarterfinal ( April 5-7)

I hope we can at least win one point.

U.S. Davis Cup team ready for Djokovic, Serbian challenge

By Erin Bruehl, USTA.com

BOISE, Idaho - Facing world No. 1 and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic is not an easy task for any opponent, on any day. But in the ultra-intense setting of Davis Cup, playing for your country and not just yourself, the task becomes even harder. Still, that’s exactly the task facing the U.S. Davis Cup squad this weekend (April 5-7) in the 2013 Davis Cup Quarterfinals at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.

The last (and only) time the U.S. and Serbia went head-to-head in Davis Cup competition was in the first round of 2010 play, when Djokovic won both of his singles matches, defeating Sam Querrey in four sets and John Isner in five, as Serbia knocked out the U.S. and took the first step toward winning the Davis Cup title that year.

Three years later, the two (almost identical) teams meet again, as Querrey and Isner will again take the court vs. Djokovic and Viktor Troicki in singles, both knowing they will need to bring their "A" games in order to defeat arguably the world’s best returner and hard-court player.

"He’s the best player in the world right now. He’s been the best player the last few years," Isner said of Djokovic, against whom he is 1-2 on the ATP Tour. "He really doesn’t have a weakness. There’s a reason he’s No. 1 in the world. But Sam and I have beaten him before. We’re going to take the court believing that we can beat him again. It’s a tough challenge, but I think we’re both ready for it......read more

 
#109 ·
Re: Team USA - Davis Cup - 2013 Up next Serbia in the quarterfinal ( April 5-7)

Davis Cup Quarterfinal Preview

Once again, emerging Davis Cup hero Novak Djokovic has been asked to step up for Serbia, as well as for the Davis Cup competition. And once more, Djokovic is answering the call.

If you remember the first round of World Group play, you’ll recall that Djokovic won the Australian Open and immediately flew to Belgium where, in the course of just four days, he overcame jet lag, adjusted to indoor red clay (he’d been on outdoor hard courts) and stepped up in grand style.

Viktor Troicki made Nole’s life easier by overcoming Belgian No. 1 David Goffin in the opening rubber. But Djokovic followed that win with a quick, three-set demolition of Olivier Rochus, and the Serbian doubles team then clinched the tie.

It may not be quite as easy for Djokovic this weekend as he leads Serbia against the USA in Boise, Idaho. He’s coming off back-to-back Masters 1000 events and facing two Americans who can bring the heat on hard courts. On the other hand, the transition by region or surface won’t be as demanding as it was a few months ago, and Djokovic has had reasonable rest — he’ll have had a full week to recover and train following his mid-week loss last week in Miami. He’s the only player in action this weekend who can legitimately complain about having been playing too much tennis before the end of the spring hard-court season.

So let’s take a quick look at the four quarterfinal ties, with the head-to-head record in parentheses:

Serbia at USA (Serbia leads, 1-0)
You could be forgiven if you feel a jolt of déjà vu when you check out the details of this one. These two teams met for the first (and until now, last) time in 2010. And while that first-round tie was on red clay in Belgrade, it seemed to represent a dramatic transition for the USA — for the first time in ages, neither Andy Roddick, James Blake, nor Mardy Fish represented the USA in singles. Instead, it was the new, emerging American stars, the twin towers: John Isner and Sam Querrey.

A lot has happened since Djokovic clinched that tie with a fourth-rubber win over a game, pleasantly-surprising Isner. Not all of those changes have been good, at least for the USA. The pair of ace machines has yet to establish itself as the new, bankable USA singles team. Both men have had ups and downs.

Querrey hit a wall and he also experienced injuries — he’s only played four Davis Cup matches since then. And while Isner has emerged as a Davis Cup hero (he had wins last year over Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Gilles Simon — all on clay), he’s struggled in general lately. Querrey has surpassed him to become the top-ranked American at No. 20 (Isner is No. 23).

The Serbian team is almost identical to the one that stopped the Americans at home back in 2010, at least in terms of the singles players. Given the pace of the medium-slow hard court, it’s hard to see either Querrey or Isner scoring the big upset of Djokovic, especially not the way either of the American lads have been playing.

The United States needs to win the doubles (consider it done; the USA has Bob and Mike Bryan) and get two wins over Viktor Troicki. That’s not impossible: Troicki is ranked just No. 44, but he’s played above his head on a number of Davis Cup occasions. It would be a great morale booster for the Americans if they can get this done, but I have my doubts.
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/04/davis-cup-quarterfinal-preview/46984/#.UV3eLlfhfIk


 
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