JOHN ISNER, JACK SOCK, NICK KYRGIOS, AND BERNARD TOMIC HEADLINE DAVIS CUP PICKS FOR THE USA VERSUS AUSTRALIA

Written by: on 23rd February 2016
Tennis Australian Open 2016
JOHN ISNER, JACK SOCK, NICK KYRGIOS, AND BERNARD TOMIC HEADLINE DAVIS CUP PICKS FOR THE USA VERSUS AUSTRALIA

epa05119759 John Isner of the United States celebrates after defeating Feliciano Lopez of Spain in their third round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2016 EPA/FILIP SINGER  |

By Ricky Dimon

 

The USTA and United States Davis Cup captain Jim Courier announced their Davis Cup nominations on Tuesday in advance of next week’s first-round tie at Australia. John Isner and Jack Sock will shoulder the load in singles for the Americans, while Courier also made the obvious choice of Bob Byran and Mike Bryan for doubles. On Monday, Aussie boss Lleyton Hewitt announced a foursome of Bernard Tomic, Nick Kyrgios, Sam Groth, and John Peers.

 

The tie will be held on grass at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club starting Friday, March 4. Opening day singles matchups will likely pit Isner against Kyrgios and Sock against Tomic, as the No. 1 from one nation faces the No. 2 from the other team. The only way that starting 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 fresh off his first career ATP title in Marseille, where he made short work of Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych, and Marin Cilic in his last three matches. The world No. 33 looked tired and disinterested for much of his first-round Dubai date with Martin Klizan on Tuesday, but he recovered to beat the Rotterdam champion 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Nick kyrgios beats Martin kilzan in 3 sets winning 3-6 6-3 6-2 #kyrgios #victory #dubaidutyfree – Photo by @tennis_phil via Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier this season 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 tougher to come by for Kyrgios. He has won just a single live rubber, which came at the expense of Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in a 2014 World Group playoff. In his one match last year, the talented but controversial character lost 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.

 

Thanks to Hewitt and Groth, the host Australians recovered to win the tie. Kyrgios, who did not play in the reverse singles rubbers two days later, remained on the bench for his country’s semifinal loss to eventual champion Great Britain.

 

The United States has not advanced out of the first round since 2013, having fallen to the Brits in each of the past two seasons. Team USA has 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.”

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

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