Bryans win to keep U.S. alive in Davis Cup

Bob, right, and Mike Bryan of the United States defeated Colin Fleming and
Dominic Inglot of Great Britain in four sets. 2013 photo by Paul Bauman

   Bob and Mike Bryan redeemed themselves Saturday.
   Now it's Sam Querrey's turn, although his task is far more difficult.
   The top-ranked Bryan twins defeated Colin Fleming and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 on clay in San Diego to pull the United States within 2-1 in the first round of the Davis Cup.
   The Bryans, the 1998 NCAA champions from Stanford, also ended their Davis Cup losing streak at two matches and rebounded from a third-round loss in the Australian Open last month.
   The 35-year-old Bryan twins, who have won a record 15 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, played their first Davis Cup match since the United States' 3-1 loss to Serbia in the quarterfinals last April in Boise, Idaho.
   "We've been waiting a long time to get another opportunity to get that bad taste out of our mouth," Bob Bryan told reporters. "It always feels bad to let the team down. We were kind of coming out of our shoes, really itching to get on the court."
   Inglot, ranked 27th in doubles, and Fleming, ranked 33rd, played together for the first time.
   British captain Leon Smith chose to rest Andy Murray, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion who had minor back surgery last September, for today's potential clinching match against Querrey (Tennis Channel, 11 a.m. PST).
   Smith instead used Inglot, who won the 2009 NCAA doubles title with Virginia teammate Michael Shabaz.
   Murray captured the 2012 U.S. Open and last year became the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon. He pounded Donald Young, making his Davis Cup debut as a replacement for injured John Isner, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in Friday's opener. 
   Then Querrey, ranked 49th after reaching a career-high No. 17 in January 2011, lost to No. 175 James Ward 1-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Querrey, a 26-year-old San Francisco native and Sacramento Capitals veteran in World TeamTennis, came within two games of winning in four sets but lost 10 of the last 11 games.
   Murray is 5-1 against Querrey, all on hardcourts or grass. The U.S. team hopes the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey will go for broke as the underdog and pull off an upset.
   That would put enormous pressure on Young in the deciding match against Ward, who's 9-5 in Davis Cup matches (all singles). They have never played each other.

COLLEGE RESULTS
Men

   No. 12 Cal def. Saint Mary's 4-0 in Berkeley. No. 1 singles: Ben McLachlan (C) vs. Joakim Norstrom, abandoned. Clinching match: At No. 3, Filip Bergevi def. Alex Hunt 6-4, 6-2. Team records: Cal 5-0, Saint Mary's 4-1. Note: Hunt, a sophomore from New Zealand, was born without half of his left arm. He plays with a prosthesis.
   No. 71 Santa Clara def. UC Santa Cruz 4-0 in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: John Lamble def. Elias Scandalis 6-1, 6-3. Team records: Santa Clara 3-1, UC Santa Cruz 1-1.
   No. 71 Santa Clara def. Sonoma State 4-0 in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: Lamble def. Matt Roberts 6-3, 6-1. Team records: Santa Clara 4-1, Sonoma State 0-1.
   Loyola Marymount def. Sacramento State 5-2 in Sacramento. No. 1 singles: David Doehring (LM) def. Roy Brandys 6-2, 6-1. Clinching match: At No. 6, Sebastian Bustamante def. Joaquin Marquez 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. Team records: Loyola Marymount 1-0, Sac State 1-3. Note: Sac State's No. 2 singles player, Sean Kolar, sat out with a knee injury.
   USF def. UC Davis 4-3 in Davis. No. 1 singles: Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Kyle Miller 6-3, 6-3. Clinching match: At No. 5, Rich Van Hout def. Parker Kelley 5-6, 6-1, 6-5 (6). Team records: USF 1-1, UC Davis 0-3.
    Pacific def. Hawaii 5-2 in Stockton. No. 1 singles: Jonathan Brooklyn (H) def. Sem Verbeek 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6). Team records: Pacific 2-1, Hawaii 1-3.

Women

   No. 1 Stanford def. No. 22 Rice 5-2 in Houston. No. 1 singles: No. 6 Kristie Ahn def. Natalie Beazant 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), [10-3]. Clinching match: At No. 3 singles, 40th-ranked Carol Zhao def. Liat Zimmermann 7-6 (tiebreaker score not available), 6-1. Team records: Stanford 4-0, Rice 2-2.
    No. 48 San Diego State def. UC Davis 5-2 in San Diego. No. 1 singles: Laura Iriarte (SDS) def. Megan Heneghan 6-4, 6-2. Clinching match: At No. 2, Kristin Buth def. Layla Sanders 6-2, 6-3. Team records: San Diego State 3-1, UC Davis 1-2.
   No. 55 Fresno State def. Sacramento State 6-1 in Sacramento. No. 1 singles: No. 104 Sophie Watts (FS) def. Jennifer Nguyen 4-6, 7-5, [10-4]. Clinching match: At No. 2, Rana Sherif Ahmed def. Alina Soltanici 6-4, 4-6, [10-7]. Team records: Fresno State 1-2, Sac State 0-3.
   No. 73 Arizona def. San Jose State 4-0 in Tucson, Ariz. No. 1 singles: Lacey Smyth def. Marie Klocker 6-2, 6-3. Clinching match: No. 1 singles. Team records: Arizona 2-0, San Jose State 2-4.