Wimbledon 2011: Quarterfinalists Will Play in the Davis Cup
United States Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier announced that current Wimbledon quarter-finalists Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and World No.1 doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan will play for their country in the 2011 Davis Cup Quarterfinal tie versus Spain, which takes place July 8-10. Spain will not have World No. 1 Rafael Nadal with the team, because he'll need rest after Wimbledon.
Spain's Davis Cup team for the quarterfinal will include David Ferrer,Fernando Verdasco, Wimbledon quarter-finalist Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers. It will be headed up by Albert Costa.
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Depending on the result in the match between Fish and Lopez in Wimbledon’s quarterfinals, it will be interesting to see if the two will play or be in top form. If either make it to the semifinals or the final, it could be very difficult to stay committed to the team. Fish plays Nadal and Lopez plays Andy Murray on Wednesday.
Fish compared Davis Cup and singles-match play to the Associated Press at Wimbledon saying, "I love being on a team. I mean, I love the Davis Cup aspect of it. But, you know, there's nothing like answering for yourself out there."
Another quarter-finalist committed to the Davis Cup quarterfinal is Novak Djokovic, who will join Serbia's tie against Sweden.
Does this stem from the belief that these three top players will not be in the final, but Rafael Nadal will?
This will be the tenth time that Spain and the USA have met at the Davis Cup, but this time it will be played on the indoor hard courts of the Frank Erwin Center at the University of Texas in Austin for the first time.
The USA has 5-4 record against Spain, but the last time they won was at the 2007 quarterfinal in Winston-Salem, N.C. and the most recent win was taken by Spain at the 2008 semifinal in Spain. The USA is 109-15 all-time at home and 210-64 overall.
The USA has a record-long run in the World Group, dating back to 1989 as uninterrupted. Spain has a 116-70 win/loss record in the overall ties played. The USA holds the most wins with 32 Davis Cup titles. "Spain has been one of the top Davis Cup teams for a number of years now and we are excited to have the chance to compete against them in Austin in front of our home crowd," Courier told the USTA. "Our team is looking forward to both the challenge and the atmosphere of the tie." The victor will face either Germany or France in the semifinals, September 16-18. The USTA released this statement about the USA players:
Fish: 29, is 6-5 in Davis Cup singles play and will compete as the U.S. team’s No. 1 singles player for the just the second time in his career. In the 2010 World Group Play-off against Colombia, Fish, playing at the No. 1 position, became the first U.S. player to win three live rubbers in a single tie since Pete Sampras in the 1995 final, as he played more than 11 hours of tennis and won two five-set singles matches and a five-set doubles match with John Isner. He also helped the U.S. reach the 2004 Davis Cup Final, where it lost to Spain, and that same year, he won the silver medal at the Olympics in Athens. Fish is currently a career-high No. 9 on the ATP World Tour.
Roddick: 28, holds a 33-11 record in Davis Cup play (all singles matches) and is second all-time with most U.S. Davis Cup singles victories, behind John McEnroe’s 41. In 2007, Roddick led the U.S. to its first Davis Cup title since 1995 when they defeated Russia in the Final. He has competed in 24 total ties (tied for second all-time among U.S. players) and has played in 44 total Davis Cup matches for the U.S. (tied for third all-time). He is also second all-time in most consecutive years played on the U.S. Davis Cup Team, competing for nine years from 2001-09 (tied with Todd Martin and behind McEnroe, who competed for 11 consecutive years). This will mark just the third tie in his illustrious career that Roddick is not the No. 1 player for the U.S., the others being his debut at the 2001 Davis Cup first round at Switzerland and the 2002 Davis Cup first round win over the Slovak Republic (behind Pete Sampras) in Oklahoma City.
Bob Bryan: 33, half of the world’s top-ranked doubles team, holds an 18-2 double record in Davis Cup and a 17-2 record with twin brother, Mike. He is also 4-2 in singles (all dead rubbers). The Bryans’ win at the 2009 Davis Cup first round versus Switzerland put them first all-time in U.S. Davis Cup history with 15 doubles wins as a team and they are the only brothers to pair in victory for the U.S. In July 2010, Bob and Mike broke the all-time Open era record of 62 team doubles titles after winning the Olympus US Open Series event in Los Angeles. They also captured the 2010 US Open doubles title and the 2011 Australian Open doubles titles, and have since won four additional titles to extend the record to 72.
Mike Bryan: 33, holds an 18-2 record in Davis Cup doubles and is 17-2 record with Bob (Mike partnered with Fish in the 2008 semifinal against Spain). Mike played in 19 consecutive doubles match for the U.S. Davis Cup Team since he and twin brother, Bob, joined the team in September 2003 until suffering from food poisoning before the 2010 World Group First Round in Serbia (John Isner replaced Mike and teamed with Bob). The Bryan brothers currently share the No. 1 doubles ranking and finished five of the past six years as the top-ranked doubles team in the world.
The matches will be televised live on the Tennis Channel and the official ball will be by Wilson.
Lauren Lynch is a correspondent for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials.
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