(September 19, 2015) Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, who were both making their Davis Cup doubles debuts, needed just one hour and 33 minutes to defeat Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in Saturday’s doubles match. Querrey and Johnson are coming off a successful summer, reaching the men’s doubles semifinals at the US Open, while Querrey also reached the mixed doubles final at the US Open with Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Istomin and Dustov are now 8-9 in Davis Cup doubles together.
“They were sharp from the beginning and we were rock solid overall,” said US Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier. ”They put a lot of pressure on their serve, particularly Dustov’s. He had a hard time holding serve today because our guys were just returning really well and controlling play.
“It has been great run for them,” Courier said of the doubles team. “They played a lot of doubles this season, but they have found their best success here recently. Today is a byproduct of the confidence they gained at the US Open. There’s no doubt about that. Winning just leads to more winning. This was a good set-up for them. There is a lot of time for them to run around and hit forehands on this surface. It was a good situation for them to make their Davis Cup debut, that’s for sure.”
The U.S. Davis Cup Team is 36-2 when leading 2-1 after Saturday. It is 27-11 in the third singles match.
Sunday’s matches are scheduled to feature each country’s top player—world No. 29 Jack Sock vs. world No. 62 Denis Istomin, followed by world No. 47 Steve Johnson vs. world No. 158 Farrukh Dustov. With the U.S. leading, 2-1, Sock could clinch the tie with a victory over Istomin in Sunday’s first singles match. In that case, if Sock wins in three sets, the dead fifth rubber between Johnson and Dustov will be played best of three sets. Should Sock win in four or five sets, the dead fifth rubber likely will not be played.
Sock and Istomin have never met on the ATP World Tour. Sock won his singles match on Friday in his Davis Cup debut, becoming the first U.S. player to win a live singles match in their debut since Robby Ginepri in 2004 against Austria. Johnson will be looking for his first Davis Cup singles win and playing in his third match for the U.S. in this tie. Johnson and Dustov have also never met on the ATP World Tour.
“Confidence is one thing, overconfidence is another,” Courier said of the matches on Sunday. “We have to win a match tomorrow one way or another. Obviously we prefer to be 2-1 then 1-2. Jack has a big match tomorrow. He has a huge match against Istomin, who I am sure took some confidence from his win yesterday and is an experienced player. Jack is going against a guy who has been in this situation quite a lot. We can’t take anything for granted. We have to come ready to play. We have to be ready for a fifth match and to go all day and get the job done one way or another.”
The winner of this tie qualifies for the 2016 Davis Cup World Group and is eligible to compete for the Davis Cup title next year. The losing nation will compete in its respective Zone Group I competition in 2016.