Querrey Reflects On Davis Cup Defeat vs Australia

Let’s face it, with the way Kyrgios is playing (and will be for years to come), the margin for error is razor thin when facing Australia. All it took was a slip up by Sock, or if that didn’t happen, it could have been a loss in doubles. Either way, things had to go relatively perfectly for USA to win.

Dan, here’s what team captain Jim Courier had to say on replacing Sock:

“Jack was a little bit tired coming off the singles and he spent alot of energy in the doubles too. And as well Sam has been playing (recently), it really wasn’t a very difficult decision. I think all along we thought we would deploy Sam at this tie… He (Sam) played as well as we could have asked of him. Nick was just too good.”

Personally, I don’t think Jack would have got past Nick either – especially given how he played his first rubber. I think the Aussies were just too good. Prolly a combination of the Lleyton factor and the blooming of Nick.

This is why I don’t like Courier as Davis Cup coach. To say about Sock, “Personally, I don’t think Jack would have got past Nick either – especially given how he played his first rubber.”

What kind of garbage is that. The guy is 24 not 34. You’re saying he can’t rebound from a 4-set 1st singles match and a 5-set doubles match to play Kyrgios in the biggest match of his life!?

That’s shocking. It really is. Qball wasn’t going to beat Kyrgios, but Sock if he came out firing and went after NK, he had a legitimate shot to beat the Aussie. I’ve lost a lot of respect for Sock. He can play Kyrgios in an exbo at MSG and look like he really wanted to win, but he can’t play Kyrgios in Davis Cup rubber match and if he’s going to go down, you give it your all.

Thanks for the quotes, Jayita.

Sock lost to Thompson. Coach Courier had reason to pull him. He wasn’t 2-0 going into a Kyrgios match and Courier gambled and lost.
It’s not a bad decision. Probably the bad decision I’d guess is not preparing for the B squad of Australia, anyone beyond Kyrgios, Tomic, Groth, Kokki.
Hewitt quickly proving himself. He may have a Davis Cup title.
To me Courier’s worst move was to ask that Davis Cup be a two week competition. That’ll never happen.

May I remind you Fed lost to Donskoy this year. It happens, a player like Sock losing to Thompson, but Sock is by far now the best American and if you’re going to go down, you go with your best.

Also, I don’t buy the Sock/NK friendship as being a block as to why they haven’t played each other in Davis Cup. These guys are competitors. They’re neck and neck in the rankings. I’m sure these guys, friendship aside, want to prove that they’re better than the other. I’m sure Kyrgios wouldn’t have pulled out of the match if Sock decided to play.

I suspect that sometimes they are even keener to beat their friends. I know in poker when a friend was up against someone else I would root for the friend. But when I was playing against a friend I wanted to beat that person even more than if it was a stranger.

Escobedo just won a tough 3 setter over Monteiro of Brazil. Monteiro beat Young in straight sets in the 1st round. Up next for Escobedo is an intriguing matchup with Isner.

Andrew, I would like to think Fritz will join that group at some point based on pure talent, but those are definitely the top NextGeners right now.

Poker is a game of luck? I don’t think so and my knowledge and playing ability is limited, but yes it’s important to be dealt a good hand, but just like in life, attributes like good looks, a cushy upbringing, smarts, don’t necessarily lead to success.

How about the old guys? Huh? Robredo takes out Dimitrov in Marrakech 1 in the third and in Houston, Sock and Haas are now into a third set. This is truly amazing. The Bryan Brothers who are getting long in the teeth just played against Paes (43) and Sa (39).

Catherine; as we know in tennis or any sport the better player does not win. Ive been observing the Nick Sock friendship for over a year. Its an intriguing aspect of the tour and now more tennis-prose readers are aware of it.

Scoop-

You’ve been ‘observing’ Nick and Jack’s friendship – doesn’t mean you know how it is for them – two very young men in another world.

And surely in sport the better player does win sometimes – otherwise we’d have no champions and no one getting unravelled about who is No 1 🙂

Courier benched Sock BC Sock lost vs Thompson and was already at ten grueling sets, going up against a fresh Kyrgios. That’s a bad match friendship or not.
Courier calls the shot. I don’t think he made a bad call. Querrey as we’ve seen is quite good! At his best, better than Sock, has accomplished more, playing around apex of his ability.
Worst call has been Isner. He has been slumping for a very long time now, and his ranking, still high for anyone, doesn’t tell anywhere near full story. One of the noted drop offs in performance on tour.
Even so, let’s accept this fact – no one was besting KYRGIOS for Davis Cup this time. The tie hinged on winning against the #2 Aussie plus dubs and maybe pulling an upset if Kyrgios twisted his ankle. Those aren’t narrow margins but they aren’t wide margins. Just a winnable tie for an up and coming team.

Re poker and luck. Yes, luck does play a role in a specific game. But luck, both good and bad, evens out in the long run and the more skilled player will win more often. There is a reason a few poker players are at the top.

For friendship, Scoop you have convinced me that Nick and Jack are good friends, but you have not convinced me that Sock would avoid playing Kyrgios in a big match. Of course players don’t want to play a brother or sister, but they do it. Even youngsters can realize they must put friendship aside. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are very close. Denis even stays with Felix’s family. But both are very clear that they will try their very best to defeat the other one on the court.

It’s Courier’s call folks! He could have said suck it up Sock. Courier was (a) likely discouraged when Sock lost the Thompson match and (b) not real encouraged that Johnson and Sock didn’t win their dubs more convincingly ( and probably wondering why the Bryan brothers, who abandoned Davis Cup after seeing their doubles tour rankings fall a bit ). He said as coach Courier I’ve seen enough. Sock, you’re out. Sam, grab your racquet.
Courier has to make hard choices. I don’t think he liked what he saw on day one or day two, and thought it was a wash to put up Querrey and see if he could knock Kyrgios down.
It wasn’t much of a risk. Sock didn’t inspire anyone against Australia. He just invited the doubts…
Let’s face it, Sock is getting a heck of a lot better but he isn’t prime time yet. He’s in the good player zone, on his best days excellent, and when up against the elite players, which Kyrgios is fast becoming, he remains a tier below. It could be his fitness. It could be a few areas in his game. He’s better than ever, and he’s still not doing well under big time pressure. He’s good under pressure, but not this pressure, yet.

I just watched that match as well and was very impressed with Escobedo. He made some terrific returns off that Isner serve and generally kept his composure.

Isner hit at least 34 aces, could have been more but it is hard to keep track. (I was watching on a stream where they did not post stats.) But it shows how weak the rest of Isner’s game is if he can get that many free points (along with many unreturnables that weren’t aces), and still lose the match. Even though Ernesto played well he is still a youngster, not a top pro, so Isner would be a definite favourite in that match. Ernesto’s ranking is now No. 91 and presumably will go up after this match.

Not to rain on the parade…but movement is critical for an ATP players career. I’m not sure why the us men struggle so much here. Proper footwork just isn’t emphasizes I guess and it really robs them. For me Escobedo is like Fritz here, bad movement to the BH wing.
I like him a lot and like Sock, or like all these guys really, he has a competitive feel for the sport, an underrated competitor.

Isner is still very tough. Made finals of Paris Indoors late 2016 and loat 64 in third to Murray. Querrey smashed his babolat after match pt loss to Bellucci. Never saw Sam snap before. Gotta love that intensity.

Wow, the US guys are ticked off! Maybe Courier really stuck it to them, Lloyd Carroll style.

I don’t doubt Isner is capable of bigger results even than he has to date. Just that without Gimmer he seems to play worse more often, and he’s been beaten up and down the rankings by other US players that he’s owned for a decade.