The Bryan brothers look to keep the USA in their Davis Cup tie against Spain after a disastrous opening day.
The Americans went into this tie with high hopes of sending the Spanish crashing out of this year's competition. A lot of Spain's success in recent years has been built around their clay-court dominance at home but a fast indoor hard court in Texas and a couple of big servers in Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick, is a much tougher proposition.
No matter. Despite lacking Rafa Nadal, the Americans were put to the sword on day one. The first rubber was always going to be crucial and Fish's five set defeat to Feliciano Lopez was a disaster. Much rested on the experienced shoulders of Roddick but he's been out of sorts over the past month and David Ferrer outplayed him in straight sets.
So it's up to the Bryan brothers to launch an unlikely comeback. They are the Wimbledon and Australian Open champions but they face a tough battle tonight against one of the most experienced Davis Cup pairings out there. Lopez and Verdasco have won so many crucial rubbers for Spain over the years.
David Ferrer will be desperately hoping his team-mates can do the business, even more than most. Ferrer is scheduled to play a clay-court event in Bastad this week and faces a long flight, jetlag and a very quick change of surface over the next couple of days. He would dearly love to not have to come out tomorrow and try and put this tie to bed.
It could be a classic tonight. We reckon the Bryans will do it in five.
