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DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND: BRAZIL v USAJanuary 29, 2013Bob BryanMike BryanJim CourierJohn IsnerSam QuerreyJACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the U.S. team. Q. John, can you talk about what you've been doing to get ready and stay in shape the last couple weeks and how is the knee? JOHN ISNER: It's definitely been feeling better. I've been doing everything I can to try to get this better. Really, once I pulled out of Australia, there wasn't much I could do besides rest. Rest was the most important thing. I can ice it five, six times a day. I can do some treatment on it. But the most important thing for me was rest. I definitely have that. My knee, it is feeling better. Hopefully I'll be able to go on Friday. I would really like that. We have to see how this week progresses. Q. Jim, can you talk about your backup plan should John not be ready. CAPTAIN COURIER: Sure. Well, John is here and obviously we're hopeful he's going to be prepared to play come Friday. But we have Ryan Harrison, as well, practicing with us. Ryan is certainly prepared to step in should John not be ready to go. Q. Is Mardy Fish a possibility? CAPTAIN COURIER: Mardy is here. We're glad to have him practicing with the team. He's building back up to be at tour level. He's not going to be quite ready to go here. Q. Bob and Mike, you'll likely face Marcelo and Bruno. Can you talk about that matchup, given how crucial the doubles rubber is. BRYAN: I mean, those guys are tough. We're not taking them lightly at all. Like you said, they have beaten us in the past. Soares is hot. They both won titles this year. They're playing well. Even though we have a lot of confidence, we're definitely going to be preparing well here on this court and using all our experience and coaching from Dave and Jim to put together the best game plan possible to beat them. Q. Can you talk about the kids clinic today, how much fun you had. The little boy who won the contest, what did you think about him? SAM QUERREY: The kids clinic was great. I think we had a fun time. There were a lot more kids than everyone thought. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. They have a great D.J. who was getting everyone excited with the cheers. The kids had fun playing. Maybe they can incorporate some tennis into some PE. I think everyone had a great time. It was pretty exciting for the kid who wrote the essay, the school we got to go to and hang out. It was a good idea from the school, great that that young boy wrote a good essay. Q. The Brazil team was in earlier. They talked about the fast surface in doubles, how they're fine with it. You don't want to give away strategy, but what are you going to have to negate from what you've seen playing against them on tour? BRYAN: I mean, it is a fast surface. Luckily the last couple weeks we were playing on a pretty fast surface at the Open. I wouldn't consider them like a huge serving team. They serve well. Soares likes to stay back and rip from the ground. They're a good poaching team. We're just going to have to play really solid doubles. They're one of the few teams that have beaten us. BRYAN: A lot of teams beat us the last 250 matches. BRYAN: The few teams that have beaten us in Davis Cup. We're going to have to play solid and 'negate', whatever the definition of that is. Q. What do you have to take away from them? BRYAN: We're going to have to remove a lot of things. I think Soares is the strong returner on the team. That's what he makes his living doing. We're going to have to serve him tough, put some pressure on the return. Melo is a good mover, pretty good serve. He's a tall guy. I don't want to give away the details, but we're going to have to play a really good match over a few hours to beat these guys. Q. Jim, in your third year as captain of this team, can you talk about what you have learned in your two previous years, anything you may want to do differently than you have in the past. CAPTAIN COURIER: Well, I think I've learned how to integrate with these guys. These guys collectively have a pretty nice wealth of Davis Cup experience. So I was the outsider coming in. I think we're comfortable with each other now having been through the fires in various places around the world together. So that's a good starting point. I think we have a pretty good routine going now and we're pretty comfortable together. As far as what I want to do better, I want to stand here at some point with a trophy in all of our hands. Other than that, it's been fantastic. Just win, baby. Q. Jim and John, Brazil was just back for the World Group. It was very emotional. How is Davis Cup for you guys? People are going to be supporting not only you, but Team USA, the nation. JOHN ISNER: It's an incredible honor I know for me, and I know for these guys sitting beside me. Also, as well, Captain Courier. The Bryan brothers have been doing it for 10 years. That just shows their commitment and how much they enjoy Davis Cup and how much they enjoy representing their country. Sam has always answered the call when his name has been called, and same for me. I think I speak for everyone when I say it's a huge, huge honor. We're excited to finally, myself and Sam, to play on home soil. We've never played a match in the U.S. I think both of us are looking forward to that. As the captain said, this match is the first step towards our goal. We're going to go out there and enjoy it and try to get it done. CAPTAIN COURIER: Nothing from me to really add to that. Q. Bob, since we're here in Florida, is Micaela going to be making her first Davis Cup trip? BOB BRYAN: We'll see on Saturday how she feels. She's coming on Thursday, it's her first birthday. We may have a little cake, celebrate in the room, come to root these guys on Friday. Q. Bob and Mike, you've been part of this for 10 years. How important is playing in front of a U.S. crowd at home? How much of a support will that be compared to the Brazilians coming in here? BRYAN: It's really fun. It's a unique experience to play in front of your home crowd in Davis Cup. We're a team that feeds off the energy. We love it. These guys are going to be loving it, too. Been getting booed the last few years on the road. It's a huge advantage. I think we're all going to feed off of it this weekend. Q. Who have you practiced against while you're here? Is it the same two guys? Do you have your own guys? BRYAN: We have a lot of different practice options. We have Mardy Fish. Harrison is here ready to go. Jack Sock and Bradley Klahn. Bradley played Sanford, he's a lefty. Those are two guys you should see in the top 100 in the next couple years. Q. Jim, you said you have Ryan ready to go in case John doesn't show up. How is the decision going to be made? Is it only the pain? CAPTAIN COURIER: Well, we have a great medical support team here who will certainly make a decision whether John is fit to play or not. That will be one portion of the decision. The rest of it will just be between John and probably me and Jay Berger, our coach, as well to see if he's ready to go. By Thursday when the draw comes out, we'll name our firm four‑player team, the Brazilians will do the same, and we'll know what the options are from there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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