Bryans end Davis Cup career with win; U.S. advances

Bob Bryan, serving, and Mike Bryan finished 25-5 (.833)
in the Davis Cup to rank first in the United States and
tied for fourth overall in doubles wins. File photo by
Paul Bauman

   There are worse places to end your Davis Cup career than Honolulu.
   Especially with a clinching victory.
   Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, 41-year-old identical twins and former Stanford stars who plan to retire after the U.S. Open, defeated Sanjar Fayziev and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-3, 6-4 in 67 minutes today to give the United States an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five-match qualifier.
   Istomin, 33, and Fayziev, 25, are ranked No. 320 and No. 474 in doubles, respectively.
   It was the Bryans' first Davis Cup match together since an agonizing loss to Croatia in 2016 in Portland, Ore., where they had led the U.S. to the last of its record 32 championships in 2007.
   The Bryans could have given the Americans an unbeatable 3-0 lead against Croatia but lost to Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig in four sets. Croatia went on to stun the U.S. 3-2 for its first win after trailing 2-0.
   Bob Bryan underwent right hip surgery in August 2018 and returned at the beginning of 2019.   
   The United States will face an opponent to be determined in the Davis Cup Finals, Nov. 23-29 in Madrid. Uzbekistan will compete in World Group I in September.
   The Bryans, who made their Davis Cup debut in 2003, finished 25-5 (.833) to rank first in the U.S. and tied for fourth overall in doubles wins. They played on one Davis Cup championship team, going 4-0 in 2007.
   Istomin reached the final of the 2012 SAP Open in San Jose, losing to Milos Raonic.
   The Bryans, who grew up in Camarillo in the Los Angeles area and have won just about everything in tennis, ironically never won the title in San Jose, a 30-minute drive from Stanford. They played in one SAP Open final, losing to – in another irony – ex-Stanford stars Scott Lipsky and David Martin. The tournament ended after the 2013 edition, its 125th year in Northern California.
   College men – No. 10 seedes Filip Kolasinksi and Alexandre Rotsaert of Stanford ousted co-No. 1 seeds Keegan Smith and Johannes de Villiers (assistant coach) of UCLA 8-4 on Friday in the third round of Pacific Coast Men's Doubles in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, Calif.
   College women – No. 2 UCLA edged No. 21 Cal 4-3 on Friday in Berkeley, Calif., in a Pacific-12 Conference opener. No. 113 Sasha Vagramov gave the Bruins an insurmountable 4-2 lead with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Jessica Zeynel on Court 6.
   No. 9 Stanford, which has won the last two NCAA team titles and three of the last four, blanked No. 37 USC 7-0 at Stanford on Friday.