Australia, United States Level In Davis Cup Tie

AUSTRALIA 1, UNITED STATES 1
Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, Kooyong, AUS (grass – outdoor)

Australia, the 28-time champion, is level at 1-1 with 32-time winner United States on Friday.

World No. 11 John Isner secured the opening rubber for the United States by hitting 20 aces to beat Sam Groth 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 50 minutes. “It was a very, very good performance for me and certainly I’ve played in a lot of matches in my career where I’ve struggled on return, but I think today I was pretty solid.”

Later, Bernard Tomic improved to 16-3 in singles rubbers for Australia by breaking a three-match losing streak against Jack Sock, competing in his second Davis Cup, 7-6(2), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 24 minutes. “I hadn’t beaten Sock before so I knew that it was going to be tough,” said Tomic.

Lleyton Hewitt, who is making his debut as Australia’s Davis Cup captain, said, “Bernie did really well. Right from the start he came out serving great, hitting his spots really well.”

Australia’s Groth and John Peers are scheduled to play Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in Saturday’s doubles rubber. “Bob and Mike Bryan seem to be at an advantage in the historical count of doubles in Davis Cup, but every day is a different day,” said US captain Jim Courier. “They’ve played awfully well. We feel confident in them, but… we don’t take anything for granted, we’ll be ready to go.”

Hewitt added, “The Bryans obviously are the favourites tomorrow in the doubles. But I still think our guys have got a good shot at it, and then on the last day anything can happen.”