Isner Blows Two Set Lead; Americans Face 0-2 Davis Cup Deficit
Andy Murray kicked off the Davis Cup playoff tie between Great Britain and the United States with a 6-1, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 over 47th ranked Donald Young in Glasgow, Scotland. Playing on his home turf of Scotland for the first time since 2011, Murray took it to the American early, eventually closing out the four-setter in less than two hours.
“Just to play in front of a packed arena here, I was born here, it’s just very special,” said Murray. “I’m glad I managed to play a good match and get the win. I played extremely high level in the first two sets and it was tough to keep that intensity up.
Coming off a loss to teenager Borna Coric in Dubai, Murray looked sharp early and often. Despite a lull in the third set that allowed Young to forge a mini-comeback, Murray dictated play all match long.
He broke Young seven times in eight chances and only surrendered one break point opportunity on serve. His win gave the Brits a 1-0 advantage in the best of five series.
The second match of the day was a marathon of epic proportions as 20th ranked John Isner faced off against 111th ranked James Ward. Isner coughed up a two-set lead as Ward rallied back for a 6-7(4), 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3), 15-13 victory in four hours and 56 minutes.
In a match that saw little return success from both opponents. Ward broke Isner’s serve in the 28th game of the final set, the only one of the frame, to clinch the win and give his nation a 2-0 advantage over the United States.
Below are the rest of the results from Davis Cup Day 1 action:
France 2, Germany 0
â–ºGilles Simon (FRA) d. Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-7(1), 6-2, 10-8
â–ºGael Monfils (FRA) d. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(4)
Italy 1, Kazakhstan 1
â–ºMikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) d. Simone Bolelli (ITA) 7-6(6), 6-1, 6-2
â–ºAndrea Seppi (ITA) d. Andrey Golubev (KAZ) 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2
Serbia 2, Croatia 0
â–ºNovak Djokovic (SRB) d. Mate Delic (CRO) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
â–ºViktor Troicki (SRB) d. Borna Coric (CRO) 4-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Belgium 1, Switzerland 1
â–ºHenri Laaksonen (SUI) d. Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) 1-6, 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-0, 6-2
â–ºSteve Darcis (BEL) d. Michael Lammer (SUI) 6-3, 6-1, 6-3
Australia 2, Czech Republic 0
â–ºThanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d. Lukas Rosol (CZE) 4-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3
â–ºBernard Tomic (AUS) d. Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5)
Brazil 1, Argentina 0
â–ºJoao Souza (BRA) d. Carlos Berlocq (ARG) 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
