WHITE PLAINS, January 23, 2018 (Press Release)
The USTA and United States Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier announced on Tuesday that world No. 13 Sam Querrey, No. 16 John Isner, No. 45 Ryan Harrison and No. 48 Steve Johnson will represent the U.S. in the 2018 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group First Round against Serbia. The best-of-five match series will be played on an indoor red clay court at the Sportski Centar Cair in Nis, Serbia, Feb. 2-4.
Serbian Davis Cup Captain Nenad Zimonjic nominated world No. 75 Dusan Lajovic, No. 85Laslo Djere, No. 176 Nikola Milojevic, No. 232 Pedja Krstin and No. 297 Miljan Zekic to his team. This is the first year Davis Cup captains may nominate five players to their teams, instead of the previous four – a prevision adopted by the ITF to allow teams greater flexibility in their team selections.
Play begins at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) on Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) on Sunday. Tennis Channel will air each match live in the U.S.
Friday will include two singles matches featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Saturday’s schedule features the doubles match, and the final day of play on Sunday features the two “reverse singles” matches, when the No. 1 players square off, followed by the final match between the No. 2 players. All matches are best-of-five sets until one nation clinches the tie. Sunday will feature a revised schedule if a team clinches in the third or fourth match.
The winner of this tie advances to the World Group Quarterfinals April 6-8 vs. the winner of Belgium and Hungary.
The U.S. has faced Serbia twice before in Davis Cup, in the 2013 Quarterfinals and the 2010 First Round – both meetings won by the Serbians on the strength of two singles victories from Novak Djokovic. The 2013 tie, in Boise, Idaho, also featured a near-record-long doubles match in which Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac defeated Bob and Mike Bryan, 7-6(5), 7-6(1), 5-7, 4-6, 15-13.
Querrey, 30, is ranked a career-high No. 13 following a 2017 season in which he reached the Wimbledon semifinals – the first American men’s Grand Slam semifinalist since Andy Roddick (2009 Wimbledon) – the quarters of the US Open, won his ninth and 10th career ATP titles (Los Cabos, Acapulco) and recorded victories over Andy Murray (Wimbledon), Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and David Goffin (Acapulco). Querrey is competing in his third straight tie and his 12th overall. He made his Davis Cup debut in 2008, where he faced Nadal in his first-ever Davis Cup match. Querrey holds a 7-9 record in Davis Cup singles play and is 1-0 in doubles. He also competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In addition to his singles success, Querrey holds five ATP doubles titles, including two with Isner (Memphis in 2010 and Rome in 2011) and one with Johnson (Geneva in 2016). Follow @samquerrey on Instagram.
Isner, 32, is ranked No. 16 in the current world rankings and will be competing in his 15th Davis Cup tie. He’s 13-11 in singles and 2-0 and doubles and made his Davis Cup debut in the 2010 World Group First Round in Belgrade, Serbia, where he became the first U.S. player since 2003 to compete in three live rubbers in the same tie. Isner won his 11th and 12th ATP titles in 2017 (Atlanta, Newport) and advanced to three ATP Masters 1000 semifinals. Isner’s biggest Davis Cup victory came in 2012, when he defeated Roger Federer in the U.S. team’s first-round win at Switzerland. He also represented the U.S. at the 2012 London Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Federer. Isner turned pro after an outstanding four-year career at the University of Georgia, leading the Bulldogs to the 2007 NCAA team title as a senior. Follow @johnrisner on Instagram and @JohnIsner on Twitter.
Harrison, 25, is ranked No. 45 in the world, and is nominated to play in his third Davis Cup tie for the U.S., first since 2012. Harrison is coming off a 2017 season in which he won his first Grand Slam doubles title, at the French Open (with Michael Venus), and his first ATP singles title, in Memphis. Harrison also reached the final in Atlanta last summer, losing to Isner, and started his 2018 season with a run to the singles final in Brisbane. He played in both of his previous Davis Cup ties in 2012, going 1-2 in singles and falling to France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Quarterfinal round, his only live rubber. Follow @ryan.harrison92 on Instagram and @ryanharrison92 on Twitter.
Johnson, 28, is ranked No. 48 in the world. He is playing in his third consecutive Davis Cup tie and fourth overall, after a 2017 that saw he and Jack Sock – the 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalists in men’s doubles – win both of their Davis Cup doubles matches, vs. Switzerland and Australia. Johnson won his second career ATP title last year, at the red-clay event in Houston, and he reached nine total ATP quarterfinals in 2017. Johnson, who peaked at No. 21 in the world in July 2016, turned pro in 2012 after an outstanding college tennis career at USC; he won the 2011 and 2012 NCAA singles championships and led the Trojans to team titles all four years he played for the school. Follow @steviej345 on Instagram and@SJohnson_89 on Twitter.
Additionally, 21-year old Deiton Baughman (@deiton_baughman), of Carson, Calif., will serve as the team’s practice partner in Nis.
