Top Spin Blog » Davis Cup

Bryan Brothers Getting Their Due

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:44:22 +0000

First there was the prime-time feature on 60 Minutes last month, and this week a full-length profile by L. Jon Wertheim in Sports Illustrated. It’s great to see the soon-to-be-best doubles team in the history of tennis getting some recognition. It has been long overdue, as the media’s attention to doubles has been relatively non-existent.

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Isner IS America’s Next Best Chance to Win a Grand Slam

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:29:25 +0000

This year thus far has been the breakout year for John Isner – winning his first ATP title, reaching the round of 16 in Australia, and making a heroic Davis Cup debut this weekend in which he played all three days, including a great effort as a last-minute sub in the doubles and a valiant five-set loss to world No. 2 Djokovic in the proud Serb’s hometown. Isner is at an all-time high in singles at 20, an awesome jump from March 2 a year ago when he had dropped all the way to No. 144. Ever since Pete Sampras retired and Andre Agassi’s back began to hurt, America’s hopes have ridden on Andy Roddick shoulders. Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003 and has come close at Wimbledon, no more so than last summer when he had chances to knock off Federer, but has not produced another championship. With Roddick turning 28 this year, he might have a few more shots, but I think 24-year-old Isner is not our next best chance. With his humongous serve, he has a puncher’s chance, especially on the fast courts of U.S. Open (which the USTA should keep speeding up by the way, especially since Wimbledon and Australia’s surfaces have slowed in past years).

The obvious comparison to Isner is Ivo Karlovic, the 6-10, 230 pound Croatian (Isner is 6-9, 245 pounds). Both hit serves from a lofty trajectory, piling up aces, giving them a chance to push every set to a tiebreaker. Karlovic is 31, and still competing strong, ranked 29 in the world. His high was No. 14 two years ago. Isner, however, has more game than Karlovic. Isner’s forehand is big too, and he’s volleying better (and it was great to see him hold his own at the net in the doubles yesterday.) I think the key for him will be fitness and developing a better net game. For too long we’ve watched Roddick bang 130 mph serves and then stay on the baseline. Big John needs to keep at it in doubles and in singles get into net, where his wing span is wide and he can put the ball away.

There’s no doubt he can step in to fill the Davis Cup role long-occupied by Andy Roddick. I’m hoping one day we’ll see him hunker down and raise with long arms a Grand Slam trophy over his head, afterward donning a Georgia Bulldog cap for the press conference. With what he showed this weekend, fighting Djokovic tooth-and-nail on clay, I believe he can do it.

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Will Roddick Play Davis Cup Again? “I don’t know,” he says.

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:26:40 +0000

Leif Shiras asks Roddick in phone interview during Isner-Djokovic match if he will play Davis Cup again? “I don’t know,” he said. Adding that he won’t play this year, and about the future he doesn’t know. Roddick is 31-11 career in singles at Davis Cup, second in wins for Americans to John McEnroe, who is 41-8. He’ll never catch McEnroe now. Roddick did say that he would be interested in coaching Davis Cup one day.

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Still Alive! Isner and Bob Bryan Win a Thriller

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:30:36 +0000

Bob Bryan and John Isner, subsituting for an ill Mike Bryan, fought back in the first and third set tiebreakers to win in four sets in the Davis Cub doubles against Serbia on Saturday. A brilliant win, especially for Isner in his Davis Cup debut, a weekend in which he did not plan to play doubles. Tomorrow the task gets harder, with Isner up against Novak Djokovic. (9 a.m. ET on Tennis Channel) Bigger upsets have happened, but I can’t think of many.

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Serbian Sautee? Mike Bryan Out of Doubles With Food Poisoning

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:52:49 +0000

The Bryan twins missed the chance to add to their Davis Cup record when Mike Bryan had to sit out of today’s doubles because of an upset stomach caused by something he ate, Tennis Channel commentator Leif Shiras said. John Isner, who lost a more than three hour match yesterday, was the last minute substitute. Tomorrow he plays Novak Djokovic. What a Davis Cup debut. Let’s hope they get the doubles win. They just saved FIVE set points to come back from 6-2 and win the first set tiebreaker! Check for live Davis Cup scores on daviscup.com.

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U.S. Davis Cup: Backs to the Wall in the Balkans

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:13:17 +0000

From Daviscup.com: Novak Djokovic confirmed Serbia’s dominance over USA by beating Sam Querrey at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round tie in Belgrade.

Playing in front of a passionate home crowd, Djokovic handed his team a commanding 2-0 lead on Friday. Despite a spirited fight back from Querrey in the third set, the world No. 2 won the second rubber of the day 62 76(4) 26 63 in three hours, 25 minutes.

In the opening rubber, Viktor Troicki withstood a creditable clay court challenge from John Isner to win 76(4) 67(5) 75 64 in three hours 36 minutes.

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U.S. and Serbia Show Down Starts Friday

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:44:56 +0000

The Winter Olympics are over, but the Davis Cup, an event that has become more obscure than curling, has just begun. To win, the U.S. has to get victories from John Isner and Sam Querrey over Victor Troicki, because they won’t be Novak Djokovic on clay. The draw is out, with Isner making his Davis Cup debut against Troicki in the opener, followed by Querrey and Djokovic. The big Georgia Bulldog needs to bring it right off the bat, or it will be a rough weekend for the Americans.

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“Ridiculous Hands” — Top Alabama Junior’s Take on the U.S. Davis Cup Team

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:54:18 +0000

Sam Cissell, recently named by the USTA as Alabama’s junior player of the year, also has the distinction of having been across the net from three-fourths of the U.S. Davis Cup team that plays in Serbia later this week. The 16-year-old Cissell and friend Andrew Crumm last year won a doubles tournament that gave them the opportunity to play an exhibition match in November in Pelham, Ala., against Bob and Mike Bryan. The Bryans beat the Alabama teens 10-3 in a super tiebreaker. “They had ridiculous hands,” Cissell said of the 2010 Australian Open champions and the world’s No. 1 doubles team. “They didn’t miss any volleys. The ball never gets past them.”

Cissell, who spent his freshman year in high school living at the Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Tampa, Fla., has practiced with John Isner. Isner, who won his first ATP tournament in January and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, now ranks 25th in the world and is making his Davis Cup debut this week. “He’s huge,” Cissell said, adding that Isner’s serve is almost impossible to return because it rises so fast. “I had to jump up to just get to the ball.”

Cissel’s long-range goal is to play for a top-tier college team, noting that the list of universities he would like to play for include Mississippi State, San Diego, Alabama and Auburn. He said if he has a successful college carer, he would like to follow the path of players like Isner and the Bryans, both of whom played college tennis before turning pro. Cissell said the Bryan brothers and Isner, in fact, had some advice for him on how to get there. “They said work hard, keep playing tournaments and stay out of trouble.”

Photo Courtesy of Katrina Trotter

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American Young Guns to Get Chance at Davis Cup in Serbia

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:44:52 +0000

A new era for American Davis Cup has begun, and it will be up to John Isner and Sam Querrey to step up and fill the shoes of long-time Davis Cuppers Andy Roddick and James Blake who are sitting out the competition this year. The tall twosome — Isner is 6′9″ an Querey 6′6″ — have a tall order to fill against the Serbian team lead by Novak Djokovic on indoor red clay in Belgrade on March 5-7. “This is the first time since 2000 that neither Andy Roddick nor James Blake will be on the U.S. Davis Cup roster – a span of 25 Davis Cup ties,” a USTA press release said. The Bryan brothers, the world’s No. 1 doubles team fresh of an Australian Open championship, will try to continue to build on their dominant career record of 16-2 in Davis Cup play. The U.S. vs. Serbia winner will face either Ecuador or Croatia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, July 9-11. If the United States beats Serbia, they will be guaranteed to host the July quarterfinal, the press release said.

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Roddick and Blake Out of Davis Cup 2010

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:00:32 +0000

The U.S. first round match in Serbia has become even tougher. Andy Roddick announced in Australia on Friday that he will not play this year due to a lingering knee injury, an Associated Press report on the USTA web site said. He joins James Blake, who also is passing on this year’s Davis Cup. Patrick McEnroe called it “the end of an era,” Peter Bodo writes.

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