"While Switzerland's Roger Federer grabbed all the headlines before play, it was the USA team of Mardy Fish, John Isner, Ryan Harrison and Mike Bryan who took the plaudits on-court. Fish won the opening rubber in five sets against Stanislas Wawrinka before the wild card of the weekend, Isner, took out Federer coming from a set down. Mike Bryan, playing with Fish as his twin brother was home with his newly born child, rose to defeat the 2008 Olympics doubles gold medalists to secure the victory and a 5-0 whitewash was completed on the final day."
Davis Cup:
FRIBOURG, SWITZERLAND: No one was predicting at the start of the opening day of the Switzerland v USA Davis Cup tie that Roger Federer’s 15-match unbeaten run in Davis Cup singles would come to an end. Yet come to an end it has.
John Isner is already assured of his place in the tennis history books thanks to his 11-hour five-minute win over Nicolas Mahut at 2010 Wimbledon. But this 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 win will be of greater satisfaction to him as a tennis player.
"It’s one of the greatest wins of my life, no that’s wrong, it’s the greatest win of my life," he said on court at the end of his two-hour 39-minute victory.
The American rode the cushion given him by Mardy Fish’s earlier five-sets win over Stanislas Wawrinka. That allowed Isner to go out firing, and while Federer broke in the third game and took the first set, Isner never wavered from his game plan.
And one of the biggest shocks in recent Davis Cup history was completed on Saturday afternoon when the U.S. doubles team of Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka in four sets to see the Americans through to April’s quarterfinals.
The reverberations from John Isner’s stunning win over Federer on Friday night carried through to the doubles, which followed a very similar pattern to the Isner-Federer singles. The Swiss won the opening set and looked reasonably comfortable for a set and a half, but once the Americans had broken, the balance of power shifted, and Federer in particular fell away at the end as the U.S. pair won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in 2 hours 18 minutes.
Because so much was made of Federer’s return to the Davis Cup first round for the first time in eight years, it’s easy to see this result as a disaster for the Swiss. A disappointment it certainly is, but to view it as a disaster would be to take too much credit away from an American team that seems finally to have lost its fear of away clay.
Isner said after his match against Federer that clay suits his game, Fish has done well on the red stuff as his career has progressed, and the French Open was the first of the Bryan twins’ Grand Slam titles. Add to that a team captain in Jim Courier who is the only American to have won the French Open twice, and maybe one shouldn’t be too surprised to see the Americans triumph.
It’s also payback time for Fish, who suffered two heartbreaking losses in marathon matches in last year’s quarterfinal in Austin, when Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer played outstanding matches against him. The 30-year-old from Tampa has now won his singles and doubles in successive days to see the US through to an away quarterfinal against either Canada or France.
“It feels pretty good to win these,” he said immediately after the victory. “I certainly know what it’s like to lose, and it’s not a great feeling. This guy [Mike Bryan] is the greatest doubles player of all time, and I’m just trying to play my part.”
Federer was asked whether this defeat affected his commitment to Davis Cup. “No,” he said, “I’m still taking things round by round, and our next round is in September. In principle I’m in, but we’ll have to see what happens between now and then.”
USA showed no remorse in Sunday's dead singles rubbers. Ryan Harrison and John Isner continued their team's winning ways with straight sets victories over Michael Lammer and Marco Chiudinelli respectively to leave the final score at a bruising 5-0.
Next tie
USA travel to France over 6-8 April looking to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2008. USA has the edge historically and also won their last tie at the same stage in 2008 when it was held on hard court in Winston-Salem. France, however, have lost to USA just once at home in the 1982 final.
History
USA is the most successful nation in Davis Cup history, having been crowned champion on 32 occasions. The Americans hold the record for consecutive wins, having notched 17 victories without defeat between 1968 and 1973. USA won the inaugural Davis Cup back in 1900.
More information:
Davis Cup: Spain Remains No. 1 in New Rankings
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