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DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP QUARTERFINALS: SERBIA v U.S.A.April 6, 2013Bob BryanMike BryanJim CourierBOISE, IDAHO ZIMONJIC‑BOZOLJAC/Bryan‑Bryan THE MODERATOR: Questions for Jim, Bob or Mike. Q. It was a tough one. Must have been incredible to be a part of, yet went the wrong way. BOB BRYAN: Yeah. Have to tip our hats to those guys, obviously. Thought they played really well all day. 36 aces, didn't give us much opportunity, in the fifth especially. Just one of those things. Obviously disappointed we let the team down. I want to thank Captain Courier for being there for four and a half hours, pushing us. I want to thank the crowd, they brought the energy all day long. That's as vocal as we've seen a Davis Cup crowd in a long time. They were cheering on every point. Thanks to them. It was a fun match to play. Hate to be on the other side of it, but too good by those guys. Q. Pretty unusual to have a guy come in basically from the futures, challengers, doesn't have a ranking. Is that sort of shocking? MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, I mean, he's a guy we haven't seen too much of on the tour. Asked a few questions of guys that have seen him play. Gave us a few things. But he served great all day. He actually was a stronger returner. There at the end he didn't show any nerves, came up with the goods, especially on some of those 30‑All points. We didn't have a lot of chances to get in the point and work the point, see more of his abilities. But he did the X's and O's well. Q. Jim, how do you pick up the team after such a heartbreaking loss for tomorrow? CAPTAIN COURIER: Well, we said on Thursday there are going to be five tough matches. So far three for three, with two more to go. Yesterday after the singles, the mission was always to come out, play well today, then win two singles matches on Sunday no matter where we stood. Nothing changes. Team dynamics are different than probably what you guys are used to. We know where we stand, what we have to do. The mission doesn't change: go out there and put Ws on the board. Q. On TV they were saying, Mike, that you were having some wrist issues. Can you talk about that at all? MIKE BRYAN: I felt it on a serve. Kind of a fluke thing. It was only an issue for a couple of points. Went away. Q. Obviously you got broken early in the first set. You broke back, tight breaker, had a lead in the breaker. Second set breaker didn't go well. Talk about getting it back to the fifth. BOB BRYAN: We always believed we could win the match. The best thing of three‑out‑of‑five sets, the team has to play extremely well for a long time to beat us. We liked having the long game. Even when we were down two sets, we knew we were just a couple points away from getting it back. We did. We fought back hard. I thought they actually elevated their games in the fifth. They knew they had to go for broke, and they did it. That's why they won. Like Mike said, they redlined it, and it hit today. Q. Jim, you said the other day you didn't think you'd see the doubles team. What did you think of that lineup? CAPTAIN COURIER: We came out today anticipating something that we didn't see out there when we saw who was warming up. That's when we let these guys know who they were playing. We got the scouting report on Ilija. None of him have seen much of him live action. We seen him practice, which doesn't count for much. He wouldn't expect he could hold his level the way he did today. Let's all tip our hats to his performance. We had him 15‑30 a couple times and the guy came up with some incredible shots. If he was Novak Djokovic, you would say, Maybe. Not a guy where he's ranked where he's ranking. The ball doesn't know what ranking is. The ball just knows where it goes. It was some incredible tennis. Q. How do you prepare not being sure who you were going to play? MIKE BRYAN: All week we were preparing Troicki, but in the back of our head, we knew it could have been Djokovic. For us, it's the same game. Served big, tried to fill the middle. Today, the match, they threw in a huge server. Maybe we would have been appreciative if Troicki went out there, but this guy was a great player. He showed a lot on the court today. He's a tough out. We have a lot of respect for Ilija. We'll have a lot of respect for this guy as long as we live. Q. (No microphone.) BOB BRYAN: Yeah, when I looked at the stats, didn't surprise me. Knew it was pretty tight all the way. Just one point here or there, you know. We would take it 15‑30, one of those breakpoints. Just rested on a razor's edge. We've had a lot of luck in Davis Cup go our way the last 10 years. Had some great matches, great ties. It's disappointing to let another fifth set like this go. But we're looking forward to getting on the sidelines and helping our singles guys through and hopefully get another shot. Q. I think you played him 40 times. During the interview, he said it was one of the best performances of his career. Kind of assess how he played. BOB BRYAN: That's the best he's ever served against us. You know, he usually doesn't go for the second‑serve aces like that, and he did. He just went for it. I was looking at Mike and saying, Haven't seen that before, you know. But obviously he's got it. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, definitely a huge serve. Sometimes his serve could be a little tight, and it wasn't. Threw in maybe one or two doubles, but other than that, he served great the whole match. Q. You are probably the best doubles team, but Nenad doesn't have a partner anymore. Do you think you could team up with Ilija for the ATP Tour? MIKE BRYAN: They're going to need wild cards. BOB BRYAN: I talked to him. I think he's playing with Benneteau. Q.  Bob and Mike, the first time in your career that you have lost back‑to‑back Davis Cup matches. Talk about how strange this territory is for you. BOB BRYAN: Like I said, we've had a lot of luck go our way. It's been a great 10 years in Davis Cup. You suit up. This is why you play the matches. You lace the shoes up, go out there, it can go either way. Unfortunately, the last two have been heart wrenching, but it will probably make the fire burn a little hotter next match. I thought we prepared well. We were here Saturday, played seven days on this court in the altitude. There's no excuses. We were here and we felt good, you know, so... Just came up against a serving machine. 36 aces, it's tough to face. Q. Jim, can you make a comment on Ilija's playing, is it a testament to spirit of Davis Cup? CAPTAIN COURIER: I think inspiration is pretty easy to come by when you're playing for the colors on your back. We've seen a lot of people in this competition rise up. You look at the numbers next to the guy's career, you see the performance today, something doesn't add up. You clearly see there was some inspiration, chemistry with Nenad on the court, and you say, Too good. Q. Would you talk about the kids behind the bench. I know your foundation paid for some of the kids to come up here. Talk about that group and why you want to be able to do that. MIKE BRYAN: Yeah, with our foundation dollars, we paid for deserving kids to come and experience Davis Cup. It was an inspiration for us at a young age. Hopefully they'll see it at this level and get inspired. My dad has done a great job. Big group, all wearing the shirts. It's great to see them. It's been bad luck, but we're still going to do it (laughter). Q. Jim, looking ahead to tomorrow, can you address the challenge that Sam faces? CAPTAIN COURIER: Well, Sam obviously is carrying confidence from his win yesterday. Just had a good practice. He knows that he's going up against a great player. He's played him recently a couple times, in Palm Springs and Paris. He's played him tough in those matches. We're not looking for a lot of surprises. It's going to come down to execution between the players. He's beaten him recently. The matches, you go out there and lay it on the line. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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