Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt came out of retirement–at least temporarily–to play Saturday’s doubles rubber against the United States at the Kooyong Club in Melbourne. Hewitt did not disappoint, but he also did not have quite enough to beat one of the best doubles teams in history.
The American brother duo of Bob and Mike Bryan held off a comeback attempt by Hewitt and John Peers 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 in two and a half hours. After dropping sets three and four, the Bryan Brothers recovered quickly to break early in the decider en route to a 3-0 advantage. They never came close to getting broken the rest of the way and served out the match at 5-3.
“I just think we did a great job of regrouping,” Bob assessed. “Credit to Mike–he hit a couple of great returns early in that fifth set.”
“The level was incredible from both sides of the net,” United States’ captain Jim Courier commented. “Obviously it got very complicated there after the second set. But they really put a stamp on it early in the fifth.”
John Isner can clinch the tie against Bernard Tomic in Sunday’s first singles match. If Tomic prevails, a fifth rubber would feature either Hewitt or Sam Groth against Jack Sock.
Doubles highlights:
American press conference:
Aussie press conference:
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good match. good showing by Hewitt.
Great 5th set by the Bryans…..and glad that TC carried the entire match….great coverage!