DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 28, 2021

Mardy Fish

Team USA

Press Conference

Colombia - 2

USA - 1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Mardy, tough result today, but looking at some of the positives, Frances giving his first win, could I just have your take on that and what it means for him to get off the bat with that big, gutsy win?

MARDY FISH: It was great, great to have him. I didn't realize he hadn't won a singles, he was 0-2. So I saw that before the match. Yeah, it's great to have Frances's energy, his smile. It's infectious on the team, and I was certainly proud to sit there and watch him compete.

Q. For John, it seems like after a really tough first match, he could have easily bowed out and maybe sat out today, but he was back there fighting in another tremendous match from him even though it didn't go your way. Just your thoughts on him stepping up after that day one and giving the effort he gave today?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, well, we were still -- we still felt like we were in the running for that sort of two spots there, those wildcard spots or whatever. You know, he's our No. 1 player here, so there was really no decision for anyone, I don't think.

I mean, we came over here, we sacrificed. A lot of people sacrificed a lot to come over here with Team USA and the USTA. And Thanksgivings are valuable at home for me personally, and I know John has three kids now. You know, there is a lot of us that love to be home for Thanksgiving. So a lot of us sacrificed a lot of stuff, you know, being in this great competition.

So it certainly hurts to not come out with a win in any of these matches. You know, obviously we will be back. We've got a tie in early March home or away that we'll need to get right.

Q. How did you approach the tie, knowing that probably needed to be a 3-0 win, probably needed a couple of straights? How did that influence the way you approached it? It's kind of a unique situation to be in.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, we knew it. You know, we knew we needed to win 3-0, and we needed to win most of them in straight sets if not all of them. But we felt it was possible, Frances going out there first against their No. 2, setting the table for us. Certainly didn't want to make him feel he had to win in straight sets or else, that's a lot of pressure, tough to do. The theme was just try and win, try and win at all costs, and just didn't go our way.

Q. Just a word on the Colombians, two pretty strong performances. You expected a dogfight, and that's what you got?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, look, a lot of respect for their players, their team, their captain. We go way back. I played a tie that I'll never forget in Bogota against Alejandro, one of the matches.

You can see the passion for Davis Cup, playing for their country, for the players. It's infectious for them, I'm sure.

Look, we have got -- it's a long year, and I know these guys really love to play Davis Cup. They love being a part of Davis Cup, they love being a part of the team aspect in any form in tennis, really, to be honest. A lot of guys jump at it.

But you look at the passion that some of these countries have for how they play and how they compete when they were out of it completely. You know, these guys are giving fist pumps every other point. It's impressive, and it's something that I hope, as a captain, to strive for and get our players to do. I thought Frances did an amazing job of that today.

It's not about you. It's not an individual tournament. This isn't just about how you're playing on one specific day. It's about just trying to get through and competing for your teammates and the support staff that's here.

Again, there is a lot of people that sacrificed a lot of things to be here this week, including the players. So we hope to get that right.