Leuven, Belgium – The Bryan twins brought the United States within one win of staying in the elite group of Davis Cup. Now it’s up to Andy Roddick, or James Blake, to complete the job against Belgium.
Bob and Mike Bryan won Saturday’s doubles 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-3 against Olivier Rochus and the outmatched Kristof Vliegen, giving the Americans a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series entering reverse singles.
“To win the doubles at 1-1 is huge,” U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said. “It gives ourselves a lot of momentum.”
Today, Roddick will face the 31st-ranked Rochus as he goes for his second singles victory. Rochus will be playing his third match in three days.
“Andy is going to be very motivated to finish it off,” McEnroe said. “I feel good about our chances.”
If the No. 3-ranked Roddick fails, the series will come down to Blake against Olivier’s older brother, Christophe Rochus. The Americans will be relegated from the World Group for the first time in 17 years if they lose both matches.
On Friday, Olivier Rochus beat Blake in straight sets before Roddick did the same to Christophe Rochus. Xavier Malisse, perhaps Belgium’s best player, is not on the team because of a dispute.
The U.S., which has won 31 Davis Cup titles, is out of contention this year. The field has been narrowed to the semifinals: Argentina at Slovakia, and Russia at Croatia. Slovakia and Croatia won doubles matches Saturday and lead 2-1.
The Bryans, winners at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, justified their No. 1 ranking. They anticipated each other’s position and repeatedly put the 130th- ranked Vliegen in trouble, much to McEnroe’s pleasure.
“That was Pat’s strategy,” Bob Bryan said. “That way we will have him stay home the rest of the match.”
The Americans raced to a 5-2 lead and Bob Bryan wrapped up the first set with four winning serves.
The match looked over when the Bryans broke early in the second set and led 3-1. However, Vliegen had a brief transformation – his passing shots and volleys instrumental in breaking the Bryans’ serve two straight times.
With Mike Bryan serving for the set, Rochus delivered two stinging returns to force a tiebreaker. The oddly matched pair of the 5-foot-5 Rochus and 6-4 Vliegen won 7-2 to delight the 2,500 fans at the Sportsplaza.
“We could have been off that court in 1 1/2 hours,” Mike Bryan said. “Well, next time.”
Vliegen soon reverted to form and the Bryans kept pounding him for winners to prevail 6-1 in the third. In the fourth, the Bryans again pounced on Vliegen to break twice early on. This time, Mike Bryan had trouble holding serve. He lost one and was trailing love-40 with the score 4-3. The twins fought back, however, and closed out the match.
Women: Maria Sharapova quit because of a chest injury while trailing in the China Open semifinals in Beijing, sending Russia’s Maria Kirilenko into the title match against Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
Kirilenko, ranked 45th, was ahead 6-4, 2-1 and “very surprised” when Sharapova stopped. The decision by the top-ranked Russian prompted boos from the crowd at a tournament beset by injuries.
Sharapova said a muscle on the right side of her chest is inflamed, causing recurring pain. The problem began in Zurich, Switzerland, last October, and she said a switch to heavier balls in that tournament may have been a factor.
The pain “comes on unexpectedly from day to day,” she said. “It’s very mysterious.”
Sharapova said her father, also her coach, decided to end the match Saturday.
“I’m very disappointed, obviously,” she said. “With every shot, with every forehand and serve I hit, it got worse and worse.”
Groenefeld defeated Poland’s Marta Domachowska 7-5, 6-3 in the other semifinal.
Sharapova’s pullout followed injuries to Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport.
Davenport withdrew before the tournament because of a lower back strain. Venus Williams pulled out before her quarterfinal because of a leg injury.
Sixth-seeded Katarina Srebotnik defeated Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-2, 6-2 in Portoroz, Slovenia, putting her in the Slovenia Open final with a chance to win a title before her home fans.
Srebotnik will play fourth- seeded Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, who beat Vanessa Henke of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Second-seeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia lost to Karolina Sprem of Croatia 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 at the Sunfeast Open in Calcutta, India.
Sprem, seeded seventh, will face top-seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-3, 6-1.
In Super Stats: Results19BB
