PORTLAND, Ore. -- The United States won its first Davis Cup title since 1995 behind a convincing doubles victory Saturday by brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Bob and Mike Bryan dominated Russia's Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko to help clinch the Americans' first Davis Cup title in more than a decade.
The Bryans cruised to a 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev on the indoor hard court at Portland's Memorial Coliseum as the U.S. won the first three matches in the best-of-five final.
The once-dominant United States had not won the Davis Cup in 12 years, the longest span without an American victory. Pete Sampras last led the team to victory over Russia on clay in Moscow.
The United States now has 32 titles in the international team competition, dating to 1900.
Andy Roddick and James Blake got the U.S. off to a fast start Friday, winning the first two singles matches. The U.S. had not taken the first three matches of a Davis Cup final since 1990 against Australia.
With Roddick and Blake looking on, both doubles teams held serve through the first set, forcing the tiebreaker. When the United States took a 5-3 lead, Andreev slammed his racket to the court.
Andreev double-faulted on the twins' second set point, and the top-ranked duo celebrated with their familiar chest bump.
Andreev and Davydenko had only been partnered once before as a doubles team in Davis Cup play, and often conferred over strategy. Davydenko, who came to the Davis Cup mired in an investigation into unusual betting patterns during a match in August, had played a doubles match only twice before this year.
When Bob Bryan's winning forehand at the net bounced over the heads of the Russians, Roddick and Blake poured onto the court and piled into a group embrace. The crowd chanted "U-S-A! U-S-A!'
The four players then ran a victory lap around the court with an American flag.
"No words can explain how we feel right now, except Woooooooo!" Mike Bryan exclaimed.
On Friday, sixth-ranked Roddick beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the opening match and 13th-ranked Blake outlasted Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3).
No. 34 Tursunov is the lowest-ranked member of the Russian team, following fourth-ranked Davydenko, No. 19 Youzhny and No. 33 Andreev.
The best-of-five final was a culmination of a year's worth of international competition. Sunday's reverse singles will be shortened to best-of-three sets because the U.S. has already clinched the title.
Both Davis Cup teams include the same players from the semifinals, when the United States beat Sweden 4-1 and Russia defeated Germany 3-2.
The United States last hosted the Davis Cup final in 1992, in Fort Worth, Texas. Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe defeated Switzerland.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
No comments:
Post a Comment