Chicago to Host Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff

The USTA and U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier today announced that top-ranked American and world No. 15 John Isner, world No. 57 Sam Querrey and the world’s No. 1 doubles team of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will represent the United States in the 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff tie against Slovakia. The best-of-five match series will be played on an indoor hard court at Sears Centre Arena, Sept. 12-14, in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. 

Slovakia Captain Miloslav Mecir named world No. 65 Martin Klizan, No. 84 Lukas Lacko, No. 129 Norbert Gombos, and former Top 20 doubles player Michal Mertinak to his team. 

Play begins on Friday, Sept. 12, at 4:00 p.m. CT, with two singles matches featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Saturday’s schedule features the pivotal doubles match at 2:00 p.m. CT. The final day of play on Sunday, beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT, will feature two “reverse singles” matches, when the No. 1 players square off followed by the No. 2 players meeting each other in the final match. All matches are best-of-five sets until one nation clinches the tie. A revised schedule for Sunday may take place if a team clinches in the third or fourth match. 

Davis Cup will be played in Illinois for the first time since 1928, when the U.S. swept Japan at the Town & Fitness Club in Chicago. The U.S. is 110-18 all-time in Davis Cup ties played at home and holds a 2-0 record over Slovakia. The winner of this tie qualifies for the 2015 Davis Cup World Group and is eligible to compete for the Davis Cup title next year. The losing nation will compete in its respective Zone Group I competition in 2015. 

Isner, 29, is ranked No. 15 and won his ninth ATP World Tour singles title earlier this summer at the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Atlanta. Isner will be competing in his ninth Davis Cup tie; he is 6-7 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. He was named to the Davis Cup team for its first-round match this February against Great Britain, but was substituted by Chicago’s Donald Young after suffering a sprained right ankle. Isner went 1-2 in singles in two Davis Cup ties last year, with one of the defeats coming to then-world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. In 2012, Isner defeated Roger Federer in the U.S. Davis Cup team’s first round win at Switzerland, one of the biggest victories of his career. The tallest player in U.S. Davis Cup history, at 6-foot-9, Isner made his Davis Cup debut in the 2010 World Group First Round in Serbia, where he became the first U.S. player since 2003 to compete in three live rubbers in the same tie. Isner represented the U.S. in the 2012 London Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Federer. He turned pro after an outstanding four-year career at the University of Georgia, leading the Bulldogs to the 2007 NCAA team title as a senior. Isner reached the third round of the 2014 US Open. 

Querrey, 26, will be competing in his eighth Davis Cup tie. Last year, Querrey played in his first Davis Cup tie at home, in Jacksonville, Fla., and clinched the tie for the U.S. in the fifth-and-decisive rubber, defeating Thiago Alves, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3). It was the first time a U.S. Davis Cup match came down to the final match since Pete Sampras defeated Slava Doesedel of the Czech Republic in the 2000 quarterfinals in Los Angeles. Querrey had not won a live singles match prior to that weekend and ended up with two wins, also winning the opening rubber. Querrey holds a 4-8 Davis Cup singles record (3-3 at home). He made his Davis Cup debut against then-world No. 1 Rafael Nadal on clay in Madrid in the 2008 World Group semifinal, losing in four sets. Querrey holds seven career ATP singles titles and has been ranked as high as No. 17 in the world. He reached the third round of the 2014 US Open. 

Bob and Mike Bryan, 36, hold a 21-4 doubles record together in U.S. Davis Cup competition. The 21 wins are first all-time in U.S. Davis Cup history for a tandem, and they are the only brothers to pair in victory for the U.S. Bob and Mike also hold the all-time Open era record of most Grand Slam men’s doubles titles (15) and ATP doubles titles (99). In addition, the Bryan brothers won the gold medal in doubles at the 2012 Olympics in London, where they completed a career Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal. The Bryans ended 2013 as the No. 1-ranked doubles team in the world, finishing as the top-ranked doubles team in the world for a record ninth time in 11 years. Bob and Mike are currently in the quarterfinals of the 2014 US Open (as of Sept. 2), going for their 100th doubles title together. 

Bob holds a 22-4 doubles record in Davis Cup competition and is also 4-2 in singles (all dead rubbers). Mike holds a 23-4 record in Davis Cup doubles matches, playing without Bob just twice in his Davis Cup career. Bob did not compete in the 2012 first round match at Switzerland due to the birth of his daughter, Micaela, so Mike teamed with Mardy Fish to defeat 2008 Olympic doubles gold medalists Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka to clinch the tie. Mike also partnered with Fish in the 2008 semifinal against Spain. Bob played without Mike in the 2010 first round in Serbia with Fish (Mike had food poisoning). 

Additionally, Captain Courier announced the practice partners for the U.S. Davis Cup team – 2014 NCAA singles champion for UCLA Marcos Giron and three-time University of Michigan All-American and Chicago native Evan King. Giron, 21, won the 2014 NCAA singles title as a junior at UCLA, finishing the year as the No. 1 college tennis player. He became the 11th Bruin to win the NCAA men’s singles title and the first to do so in eight years. Giron, who turned pro this summer, earned a wild card into the 2014 US Open for winning the NCAA singles title, losing to U.S. Davis Cupper Isner in the first round. King served as a U.S. Davis Cup practice partner during the 2011 World Group quarterfinal against Spain in Austin, Texas. He was a 2013 graduate of the University of Michigan, where he was a three-time All-American (2011-13) and the Big Ten Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013.

Founded in 1900, Davis Cup is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the world’s largest annual international men’s team competition with 122 nations competing in 2014. The U.S. leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles. The U.S. holds a 213-68 all-time Davis Cup record and owns the longest uninterrupted run in the World Group, dating back to 1989. For more information, including access to player and historical Davis Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/daviscup or www.daviscup.com. Follow the U.S. Davis Cup team on Twitter @USDavisCupTeam. Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Davis Cup team.

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level, from local communities to the highest level of the professional game.  A not-for-profit organization with more than 750,000 members, it invests 100 percent of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking nine summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s national charitable foundation, USTA Serves, provides grants and scholarships and helps underserved youth and people with disabilities. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.