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DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND:GREAT BRITAIN v U.S.A.February 2, 2014Jim CourierSam QuerreySAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA A. MURRAY/S. Querrey THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Fantastic effort today. Can you describe what it's like to play that well, get that many shots back, and having his style of play, the ball coming back at you? SAM QUERREY: You know, I feel good. He's one of the best players in the world, one of maybe the first or second best defensive players in the world. I felt like he had to come up with some good shots today to beat me. Overall I felt like I played well and made him hit those shots to beat me. That's what I wanted to do out there. Q. Sam, big picture, long time into the future when you're looking back at your career and think about the weekend here, what do you think your memories are going to be? SAM QUERREY: I had some ups and downs definitely. I'm bummed I lost the first one, you know. Wanted to obviously help the team out. You know, proud of myself for putting it behind me and coming out strong today. You know, we've got another Davis Cup later in the year and we've got next year and the year after, the year after, so it's not a ‑‑ although it's only a one year kind of mini journey and we have a good team and hopefully we've got many years to come together and hopefully we can hoist the trophy one of these years. Q. Sam, what's it like, you know, the second set, the crowd is really into the match. Boom, you even things at one apiece. What's going through your mind immediately after you clench that set? SAM QUERREY: Just keep it up, keep doing what I'm doing, keep being aggressive, looking to attack, and just sticking to the game plan that Captain Courier and myself and the coach kind of had. No matter what the score was, who was up a set down a set, just stay with it the whole time. Q. Jim, overall assessment on the weekend, what you were happy with, if anything, what you would like to see improve? CAPTAIN COURIER: Sure. Well, first, obviously we should congratulate the Brits on a tie well‑played. We went out and we laid it on the line. We gave our best effort all the way through. I'm proud of the way Sam competed today. He had a tough one on Friday and he put it behind him quickly. Practiced great yesterday. Played a terrific match today that could have gone either way. You win the first two sets and things change. We were down a couple breaks in that first set and fought back into it. We were up in that first‑set breaker a couple times and Murray came up with some good shots. We kept our heads together, and I was proud of Sam and the way he competed. I think Donald got some valuable experience, even though it was a brief weekend for him on the court. I think it's really important to get that first match, that first experience in. He'll be better for that in future ties. Of course Bob and Mike did what they do so well, which is compete hard and typically get us the win. So we're disappointed. We don't like to see our season end in February, but it is what it is. We'll put it behind us. Hopefully the guys will put together a good season on the ATP circuit and build towards our qualifying match in September and we'll keep or place in the World Group and get a shot at the title again next year. Q. This question is for either of you two. Great Britain hasn't beat you on American soil in over 100 years, 1903. How does it feel to be part of the team that fell short? CAPTAIN COURIER: It feels great to be alive in 2014, put it that way. We certainly don't feel a lot of kinship to the last team that lost to the Brits on American soil since they've been dead a long time. I appreciate the question. I understand what you're trying to go for, but it has nothing to do with us. We come to play on our own terms. It's a fair question; it's a fair answer, too. Q. Both of the first two sets were incredibly competitive. The first set ended obviously on, for you, a relatively easy volley. Was it a lack of concentration or what happened on the shot? SAM QUERREY: Missed the volley. He's a good defensive player. Maybe tried to do a little bit too much with it. Every now and then you miss an easy one. Just happened to be at a big moment. Q. Jim, you said a lot of interesting things over your career, but some say the most interesting was after‑‑ I don't know whether it was Andre or someone said that you didn't have much talent. You said having guts on the court is a talent. Having desire, having the guts to go for it when you're down Love‑40, is a talent. Talk about that in terms of the American game these days and the 21st century where there so many options and so much affluence. CAPTAIN COURIER: Are you looking for a macro picture? Q. Yep. I don't know exactly what macro means, but that's what I want? CAPTAIN COURIER: How are you gonna fucking sell magazines if you don't know what a macro is. Q. You buy one afterwards, it's only 22 bucks. It was on the street all morning. CAPTAIN COURIER: That's why you can't sell 'em. Who is going to buy a $22 magazine? I don't understand your question, Bill. What are you suggesting? Q. Is that a part of the American game now, the kind of ferocity that Jimbo and Mack, Andre, yourself showed? CAPTAIN COURIER: I now understand the question. I think every individual brings a different skillset and a different demeanor to the court. To expect every person to have the same attitude of a Michael Chang, not everyone can bring that to the court. Not everyone can bring other skillsets. I think what's important is making sure that you maximize what you have. I think what you saw from Sam today is what I hope you see mor of in the future. He was ferocious out there. He was aggressive in the big moment. Quit frankly, he was a different player than he was on Friday. He went for his shots. That's the kind of belief he needs to play his very best tennis. And he can do it. You saw very clearly he competed this close with one of the best players in the world on any surface, let alone playing on this surface. So I think being competitive and having a competitive spirit goes a long way, but it displays itself in a lot of different ways. It doesn't have to be as overt as a Jimmy Connors or perhaps the way I behaved on the court. Doesn't have to be that in your face. But playing the big points is a big part of who wins matches. Q. It was an interesting tie. Some great efforts, great performances, and some setbacks. If you had to summarize in a phrase or two, what would be it? CAPTAIN COURIER: It was a tough Friday. We got off to a rough start. Those can be tough to come back from. If I had to walk away telling you what I feel about this tie, I feel proud of how our team fought. We fought hard. We fought through the finish line. That's all I can ever ask of these guys. We can't control the wins and the losses, but we control the effort. I think we grew through the weekend, too. Sam and Donald both have gained some valuable experience through the weekend, and the Bryans have probably regained some confidence, which is good. Q. You talked about executing your game plan. I assume that was go big or go home. Can you expand on the game plan? CAPTAIN COURIER: Don't tell him, Sam. Top secret stuff. SAM QUERREY: What you saw was what you got, you know. Just trying to hit my forehand big and play‑‑ I didn't play any different today than how I want to play in a normal match, you know? My serve and forehand are my weapons, and those are the shots that I want to go after. Q. Jim, just a couple things. You had a couple practice partners. See anything special in either of those guys? CAPTAIN COURIER: Yeah, Collin Altamirano and Noah Rubin. They did a great job for us this week. Their attitudes were great. There is some real skill there, too. We'll see how they develop. There is a long way these days between the juniors and the success you have there and making it into the men's game. But nice to see them out here getting some experience in the big leagues as well and seeing what the big heat feels like also. I think it was a successful week on a lot of levels. Q. Six of the top ten Davis Cup nations will be playing in that playoff group. Does that speak for how the Davis Cup is or is it a luck thing because some players couldn't play? CAPTAIN COURIER: I think it's case by case. The schedule is obviously something that's become a challenge for many of the top players to accommodate. That's not a new story. In our case, we ran up against a team with a great player on it who we knew was going to be tough to beat. They had their second player have a career day. That's what's special about Davis Cup players that don't get the spotlight a lot find the spotlight. I think that's why we all gravitate towards this competition, because it provides those kinds of moments. Q. Jim, could you go a little bit more into Collin's game. California kid. Not huge. Had a run at the Open. CAPTAIN COURIER: Yeah, he has a lot of raw ability there. Good control of the ball as well. Sees the court nicely. Is a raw athlete. There is a lot of work to be done if he wants to make it. He has tools, and you have to start with those before you get to the tour. Q. First for Sam and then for Jim: Super Bowl score, please? CAPTAIN COURIER: Who's playing? SAM QUERREY: I'll go Seahawks,24‑21. CAPTAIN COURIER: I think the Cowboys are going to win. Q. If you were to do it over again in this tie, would you consider hard court? CAPTAIN COURIER: No. Q. (No microphone.) SAM QUERREY: I think the entire team loved it. It's one of the most unique venues we ever played in. The court was incredible. The guys who laid down the court were incredible. Bounces were fair, were good. The atmosphere was great. Weather was great. It was fun playing in a baseball stadium, and I think all of us would love to come back here, come back to a baseball stadium. Pretty much flawless all the way around. Q. In regards to younger players who are part of the USTA Performance Program, how important is it to learn to play on clay, and how would that help them? CAPTAIN COURIER: I don't think it's a mystery that you have to be able to play on all surfaces if you want to be a great tennis player. Yeah, the more opportunity that kids have to play in all surfaces, grass, included, at a young age, the better they'll be. When you play an different surfaces it exposes flaws in your game that one surface may hide. The more variety you can get the better you're going to be as a tennis player. Q. What do you think of the atmosphere? CAPTAIN COURIER: Yeah, Sam said it really well. I think it was an A‑plus location. I thought all the staff and people, the USTA officials that helped organize and run it, it was run seamlessly. I think the Brits probably would steel feel the same way we do, which is that if every week were like this, it would be even better than what the tour is today. This is truly spectacular and special. Q. Sam, your dad was in the Detroit organization. I think he hit a couple home runs out of the Florida baseball park. You ever look and think maybe I could do this one at Petco? SAM QUERREY: I mean maybe. (Laughter.) I've only done batting practice a couple times. It was fun. Love to do it again. I don't really know if I could hit one out here. CAPTAIN COURIER: Baseball is a good sport to watch. Tennis is it for you, Sam. (Laughter.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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