Whatever the case, the state of America went from bad to worse when it fell to Great Britain for a second consecutive year in the Davis Cup first round. The leading culprit was an ice-cold John Isner, who lost to unheralded James Ward 15-13 in the fifth after blowing two-set lead. Donald Young, a somewhat controversial choice for No. 2 singles, didn’t help; he got blown out by Andy Murray in the first rubber.Fast forward a little more than a week and from completely out of the blue, the American men are peaking in Indian Wells.
Four made it to the third round: Isner, Young, Jack Sock, and Steve Johnson. All four have won two matches, as Isner got a bye and is already through to the last 16. The other three will contest their third-rounders on Tuesday.
After opening with a routine win over Jurgen Melzer, against whom Isner had previously been 0-3 lifetime, the world No. 20 beat Kevin Anderson 7-6(6), 6-2 on Monday.
“It’s been a while,” Isner admitted. “Those are the matches I’m accustomed to winning. I haven’t really done that this year so far. Winning that, it’s pretty big for my confidence. I have had slow starts in prior years, too. I have been able to sort of overcome them and have a good year.”
Johnson is off to a fast start in 2015 has also been in absolute cruise-control in the desert. The former University of Southern California standout erased Marcel Granollers in straight sets then took down Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-6(5) in round two.
Young’s performance in the desert has not come announced; in fact, he was already red-hot prior to this event. The 25-year-old reached the Memphis semifinals and finished runner-up in Delray Beach before being named to the U.S. Davis Cup team. He maintained his fine form by upsetting No. 31 seed Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday.
“I feel good,” Sock said. “I said before the tournament this is probably the best I’ve felt physically and mentally, having the time off and being able to put in almost eight or nine weeks training, I think it’s shown out there.”
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