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DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP QUARTERFINALS: SPAIN v U.S.A.July 10, 2011Jim CourierMardy FishAUSTIN, TEXAS D. FERRER/M. Fish THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Jim, obviously Mardy fought like a dog out there. Looking at the whole weekend, you must feel like some lost opportunities with some of the sets, the home venue. Can you talk about that? CAPTAIN COURIER: Talk about the general weekend? Q. Yes. CAPTAIN COURIER: Sure. We ask really one thing of our guys, which is to leave it on the court. We succeeded from that standpoint. We didn't succeed in the wins department overall. I'm very proud of all the guys for all the efforts they put in all the matches. We definitely laid it all out there. We were ahead in a lot of sets. But that's never a guarantee against players that are strong and players that are professional. This weekend is a prime example of that. You have to close the door on these guys. It's disappointing from that standpoint for Mardy and for Andy and for me and for Bob and Mike. But it's part of the game. You have to win the last point every set. We can go on and on with the clichés. You saw what I saw. We had a lot of chances and just didn't get 'em. Q. How difficult is it they seem to have three A teams they can mix up because of the depth they have? CAPTAIN COURIER: I think we have great depth as well with John and Sam. Unfortunately Sam is injured. Mardy kept us alive last year down in Colombia. Wouldn't be in the World Group without him. We've got a lot of options, a lot of weapons at our disposal as well. But Spain is probably the deepest nation out there in men's tennis. That's a great advantage to have, no question about it. Q. Mardy, your thoughts on the intensity and the level of competition of this match today. MARDY FISH: Yeah, I mean, I think it was pretty high quality for the most part. The crowd was incredible. I mean, I had so much fun all weekend playing. I badly wanted to get, you know, to the point where we could get Andy out there playing in front of them as well in the fifth match. Just didn't work out. But, you know, as far as the weekend's gone, the crowd's been incredible. We've had an absolute blast here. It was a lot of fun to play. CAPTAIN COURIER: Decent ambience really. Fairly into it. Q. Mardy, can you talk about the decision to come in and not come in, that sort of thing. You seemed to come in a little bit more later in the match with some success. MARDY FISH: Come to the net? Q. Yes. MARDY FISH: Yeah, I mean, he's very good from the baseline. That's where he makes his living. He's one of the best baseliners, one of the best clay court players in the world. This is a surface that he's not very comfortable on. We wanted to put a lot of pressure on him. I wanted to put a lot of pressure on him at the net and utilize my volleys a little bit, try to strike the ball through the court and low and hard. He just kind of came up with one or two better shots than I did. Q. Mardy, Jim referred to David as a human backboard. Today there were times like you hit a winner and he seemed to always make you hit that extra shot. How frustrating is that? MARDY FISH: I mean, like I said, that's how he makes his living. He's one of the best movers in the world. Makes you play extra balls. He can hit passing shots extremely well. He's 6 in the world for a reason, and that's why. Q. Jim, can you talk a little bit about the decision to scratch the last rubber. Seems like the fans wanted to see Andy out there. THE MODERATOR: The rule is there is no fifth match unless both captains agree. CAPTAIN COURIER: Correct. Q. Did Andy want to play? CAPTAIN COURIER: I think Andy has a history of not liking to play those matches. If you ask most players, the dead rubber is a little outdated for professional tennis. It's there really more I think for a 3-0 situation when fans have bought tickets and they deserve to see plenty of tennis. Today they saw one of the best four-set matches you could ever see, plenty of theatrics, plenty of intensity. I think it would be a huge letdown if two guys went out there to play after that for an exhibition. So in fairness I think it was the right decision for both teams - to not decide. Q. Andy would have loved to go out there and play. What do you think he's experiencing? CAPTAIN COURIER: He's still in the locker room. He's exhausted from watching Mardy and being emotionally involved in that match. We live and die with this stuff as a team. And Andy was ready for the ball. He wanted the ball. He rarely has played fifth matches in his career because the No. 1 player is in the fourth match. He's tired and disappointed I think would be a good way to describe it - not in that order. Q. You've only once been at home on a losing end when you played in a Davis Cup tie. Sort of the end of your campaign this year as captain. Reflect on that. CAPTAIN COURIER: Well, yeah, I'm first of all privileged to be captain of the team. We have a bunch of great guys. I'm proud to be on the court with them. Hopefully that comes out in the way I represent what we're doing out there. Look, we had a really tough draw this year. To play Spain either home or away is a very challenging draw. We knew that, with or without Rafa, it was going to be a tough match. Our guys were prepared. We came in. We had a lot of chances. Let's tip our hats to the Spanish team and wish them well for the semifinals. We'll look ahead to the next year and be ready to go. It's been a great ride for me just in the two. A lot of learning. I think I'll be a better captain for these guys in the future. Mardy and I got better and better over the weekend with our communication. That will pay dividends for us down the road. Q. Mardy, did you and Andy have any kind of conversations today? MARDY FISH: I mean, I kind of told him that was the goal, that's obviously the goal, for him to play. That's the hardest part for me, is knowing how much he wanted it to be here in Austin. To not deliver and let him take that last match, it would have been a great ending for the tie here, playing in front of his home fans. That's the hardest part for me. Q. Obviously you're disappointed. But at some point you're going to reflect on the match and feel like you played quite well, right? MARDY FISH: Yeah, I mean, I had a lot of chances out there. You know, you take advantage of some of those breakpoints, not even all of them, and I could win that match in straight sets. But it's not how it works. I mean, obviously I'll look back and remember the crowd and the week. This is the loudest Davis Cup I've ever been a part of. So I'll certainly remember that. Q. Fatigue a factor? MARDY FISH: I mean, tomorrow morning it will be. You know, not right now. I felt pretty good. I mean, I certainly could have played another set. Q. (Question regarding 2012.) CAPTAIN COURIER: We certainly felt that way this year. We certainly felt like we were one of the favorites as far as teams go this year because we have such depth. We have four great singles players and Bob and Mike Bryan. A lot of options, a lot of weapons. Next year I feel the same. Our guys are very strong players. We'll learn from this and take these lessons forward. Only one team can win this year. It's not going to be us. We'll point our attention towards 2012. Q. Mardy, you have some exciting points to defend in the US Open Series. What do you plan on working on? CAPTAIN COURIER: Rest. MARDY FISH: Yeah, that's a tough question right now. You know, I always like playing the summer. I played great last year. So it will take me a little bit of time to recover from this, though. CAPTAIN COURIER: Nothing a little golf can't help out with. Well, that's a killer. Good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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