Sam Querrey of the United States eyes the ball during his Men's Singles first round match against Kei Nishikori of Japan on day one of the AEGON Championships at Queens Club on June 6, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Jacksonville, FL (Sports Network) - The 2013 opening-round Davis Cup tie
between the host United States and Brazil will commence Friday with a singles
rubber between Sam Querrey and Thomaz Bellucci.
Querrey-Bellucci will be followed Friday by a match between 6-foot-9 John
Isner and Thiago Alves. Isner has been nursing a sore knee, which prevented
him from playing at the Australian Open this month.
Saturday's doubles in Florida will pit the mighty Bryan brothers, Bob and
Mike, against a Brazilian duo of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares, while Sunday's
reverse singles call for Isner to tangle with Bellucci and the 20th-ranked
Querrey to lock horns with Alves on the indoor hardcourt at Jacksonville
Veterans Memorial Arena. The twin Bryans captured a men's-record 13th doubles
Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last week.
The world No. 16 Isner is 5-5 in his career Davis Cup singles -- all on clay
and all on the road. Friday will mark his first-ever home Davis Cup rubber.
Querrey, meanwhile, is just 1-5 in his Davis Cup singles, and just like his
towering compatriot Isner, he's never played a home rubber.
Team USA is captained by former world No. 1 star Jim Courier, while the
Brazilians are guided by Joao Zwetsch.
The Americans are 3-1 all-time versus Brazil, with their last meeting coming
in 1997 when the visiting U.S. won a first-round matchup 4-1 in Ribeirao
Preto. The two nations first met in 1932, and the Brazilians haven't beaten
the Americans since 1966.
The 32-time champion U.S. lost to the mighty Spaniards in a semifinal in
Gijon, Spain last year.
The USA-Brazil winner will meet the Serbia-Belgium victor in a quarterfinal in
April.
The Sports Network