Isner and Young Join Bryan Brothers to Represent U.S. in Davis Cup Play
The USTA and United States Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier have announced that top-ranked American and world number 20 John Isner, world number 45 Donald Young, and the world’s number one doubles team of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will represent the U.S. in the 2015 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group First Round against Great Britain. The best-of-five match series will be played on an indoor hard court at the Emirates Arena, March 6-8, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Great Britain Captain Leon Smith named world number three Andy Murray, world number 108 James Ward, and doubles specialists Jamie Murray & Dominic Inglot to compete against the United States.
Play begins each day at 1:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. ET). Friday, March 6 will include two singles matches featuring each country’s number one player against the other country’s number two player. Saturday’s schedule features the pivotal doubles match. And the final day of play on Sunday features the two “reverse singles” matches, when the number one players square off followed by the number two players meeting each other in the final match. All matches are best-of-five sets until one nation clinches the tie. A revised schedule for Sunday may take place if a team clinches in the third or fourth match.
The U.S.-Great Britain rivalry is the oldest in Davis Cup history, dating back to the first competition in 1900. The two countries last met in January 2014, in a World Group First Round tie played on a clay court in the left field of San Diego’s Petco Park, marking the first time Davis Cup had been played in an open air baseball stadium. (Andy Murray led Great Britain to a 3-1 victory in that matchup). The U.S. is 11-8 all-time against Great Britain and had won the last four Davis Cup ties against the Brits prior to 2014. The U.S. holds a 214-68 overall record in Davis Cup play.
The winner of this tie advances to the World Group Quarterfinal, July 17-19, and will play either France or Germany. Should the U.S. defeat Great Britain, it will travel to Germany or host France. The losing nation will compete in the World Group Playoff, Sept. 18-20, for the right to play in the World Group in 2016.
Isner is ranked 20th in the world and will be competing in his 10th Davis Cup tie; he is 8-7 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. He was named to the Davis Cup team for its first-round match last year against Great Britain, but was substituted for by Young after suffering a sprained right ankle. Isner went 2-0 in singles in the 2014 World Group Playoff last September in the U.S.’s 5-0 sweep of Slovakia. In 2012, Isner defeated Roger Federer in the U.S. Davis Cup team’s first round win at Switzerland, one of the biggest victories of his career. The tallest player in U.S. Davis Cup history, at 6-foot-10, Isner made his Davis Cup debut in the 2010 World Group First Round in Serbia, where he became the first U.S. player since 2003 to compete in three live rubbers in the same tie. Isner represented the U.S. in the 2012 London Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Federer. He turned pro after an outstanding four-year career at the University of Georgia, leading the Bulldogs to the 2007 NCAA team title as a senior. Isner holds nine career tour singles titles, the last of which came in Atlanta during the 2014 Emirates Airline US Open Series. So far this year, he has reached the third round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis, Tenn.
Young, 25, is ranked 45th on the ATP Tour and will be making his second appearance for the U.S. Davis Cup team. Hemade his Davis Cup debut in the World Group Quarterfinal against Great Britain in San Diego last year, where he lost to Andy Murray. Young comes to Davis Cup after reaching the final of the ATP event in Delray Beach, Fla., this past weekend—his second ATP singles final (2011 Bangkok). Also this year, Young reached the singles semifinals and doubles final of the ATP event in Memphis. Young broke into the Top 40 in February 2012 and qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.In 2011, he reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open, upsetting two Top 30 players en route, for his best Grand Slam result. And last year, he reached the third round at both the Australian Open and French Open. Young was a standout junior player, winning the 2005 Australian Open and 2007 Wimbledon boys’ singles titles. And at age 16 years, five months, he became the youngest-ever year-end world junior number one in 2005.
Bob and Mike Bryan hold a 22-4 doubles record together in U.S. Davis Cup competition; the 22 wins are first all-time in U.S. Davis Cup history for a tandem. Bob and Mike, the only brothers to pair in victory for the U.S. Davis Cup team, hold the all-time Open era record of most Grand Slam men’s doubles titles (16) and ATP doubles titles (104). In addition, the Bryan Brothers won the gold medal in doubles at the 2012 Olympics in London, where they completed a career Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic Gold Medal. The Bryans ended 2014 as the number one-ranked doubles team in the world for a record 10th time.
Overall, Bob holds a 23-4 doubles record in Davis Cup competition; he is also 4-2 in singles (all dead rubbers). Mike holds a 24-4 record in Davis Cup doubles matches, playing without Bob just twice in his Davis Cup career. Bob did not compete in the 2012 first-round match at Switzerland due to the birth of his daughter, Micaela; in that case, Mike teamed with Mardy Fish to defeat 2008 Olympic doubles gold medalists Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka to clinch the tie. Mike also partnered with Fish in the 2008 semifinal against Spain. Bob played without Mike in the 2010 first round in Serbia with Fish. (Mike had food poisoning.)
Additionally, U.S. Captain Jim Courier announced the practice partners for the U.S. Davis Cup team—top juniors Stefan Kozlov and Francis Tiafoe.
Kozlov, 17, is the nunber five-ranked junior in the world. He reached the junior boys final at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2014, as well as the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open and French Open juniors. This year, he reached three consecutive USTA Pro Circuit quarterfinals and competed in the ATP event in Memphis.
Tiafoe, also 17, last year peaked at number two in the ITF World Junior Rankings and reached the boys semifinals at the 2014 U.S. Open junior tournament. Tiafoe won the prestigious Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships in December 2013 in Plantation, Fla., becoming the youngest boys’ champion in the 67 years of the event (Kozlov won the Orange Bowl in 2014). So far this year, Tiafoe has advanced to one USTA Pro Circuit final in Weston, Fla., as well as one semifinal in Sunrise, Fla.
