U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier announced his Davis Cup nominations on Tuesday in advance of next week’s first-round tie at Australia. John Isner and Jack Sock will carry the load in singles for the Americans, while Courier also made the obvious selections of Bob Byran and Mike Bryan for doubles. On Monday, Aussie captain Lleyton Hewitt revealed his group of Bernard Tomic, Nick Kyrgios, Sam Groth, and John Peers.
The tie will take place on the grass courts of the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club starting Friday, March 4. Opening day singles matchups will likely see Isner face Kyrgios and Sock go up against Tomic, as the No. 1 from one nation meets the No. 2 from the other side. The only way that lineup could change is if Kyrgios wins the Dubai title. That would be the 20-year-old’s only chance of passing Tomic in the rankings prior to next week.
Kyrgios is coming off his first career ATP title in Marseille, where he rolled over Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych, and Marin Cilic in his last three matches. The world No. 33 looked jet-lagged and disinterested for much of his first-round Dubai contest against Martin Klizan on Tuesday, but he recovered to beat the Rotterdam champion 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Kyrgios-Klizan highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HunBoYejRW4
Earlier this year in the Hopman Cup, a team competition in Perth, Kyrgios teamed up with Daria Gavrilova and electrified the home crowd en route to the title. Success in Davis Cup, however, has been more difficult to come by for Kyrgios. He has won just a single live rubber, which came against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in a 2014 World Group playoff. In his lone match last season, the talented but controversial character fell to Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-4. At one point during the match, Kyrgios that he didn’t want to be there.
Hopman Cup highlights:
Thanks to Hewitt and Groth, the host Australians recovered to win the tie against Kazakhstan. Kyrgios, who did not play in the reverse singles rubbers two days later, stayed on the bench for his country’s semifinal setback against eventual champion Great Britain.
The Americans not advanced out of the first round since 2013, having fallen to the Brits in each of the past two seasons. They have not reached the semifinals since 2012, when its run came to an end on the road in Spain.
“It will be nice to play against Australia here in Melbourne on grass,” Isner said last month. “They have some crazy fans. It will be a lot of fun. [Lleyton] is one of the most respected guys on tour. I have the utmost respect for him. It makes sense that he would captain their Davis Cup team.”
[polldaddy poll=9321407]
who ya got?
Don’t know. I clicked USA in the poll because Merica but I don’t know right now.
Tough choice. Grass in Kooyong – feels like advantage Australia. But we have Bryan Bros. And uh…was going to say Tomic has been horrendous but given it’s at home, his head should be on straight. Kyrgios is going to shine. Hasn’t Sock been sick? And Isner hasn’t impressed lately. I need more time before I vote!
Picking France over Canada. Probably will pick Australia – playing in Australia is a big advantage, I’m guessing.