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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/.../#.UUDk0FfheJQ

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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

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DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP QUARTERFINALS: SERBIA v U.S.A.

April 2, 2013

Press Conference Transcript: http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=88146

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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/.../#.UV3eLlfhfIk

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Bob Bryan ‏@Bryanbros 3h

The work horses: practice partners, @mitch_krueger & @TennysSandgren . Day in and day out, they get it done. #thugs pic.twitter.com/cfuiuPhUfC

On the elevator

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For bigger image: http://twitter.yfrog.com/z/nwrq2tekj

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Day 1

Djokovic def. Isner 76(5) 62 75
Querrey def. Troicki 76(1) 36 46 61 64

USA 1 - 1 Serbia

Good luck to Mike and Bob Bryan in the doubles tomorrow!

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I love reading all the tweets supporting the team, especially from the juniors I hope some of them can take part in this event someday.

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Day 2

Bozoljac I./Zimonjic N. def. Bryan B./Bryan M. 76(5) 76(1) 57 46 15-13

USA 1 - Serbia 2


Great match. Isner and Troicki must be very happy

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Day 3

Djokovic def. Querrey 7-5 6-7(4) 6-1 6-0
Rubber 5 not played

USA 1 - 3 SRB


Didn't see the match, but expected result. The Boise crowd was a lot better than in Jacksonville. Maybe future ties should be played on college campus and students should get free admission. They are the best crowd for this type of event.

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April 8, 2013Though the result didn't go the way we had hoped, we still had fun. Thank you, Boise.

Harlem Shake Davis Cup Style: http://www.whosay.com/bryanbros/videos/319829