Thursday, March 5, 2015

USA v GBR: Round 2 - Our Predictions

Last Sunday, On the Rise (a tennis blog) posted a round table discussion of the upcoming Davis Cup tie between USA and Great Britain. Now that we know each country's teams, here's each round table participant's prediction of the winner. As a special bonus, Parsa has provided a detailed analysis of each rubber at the end of this post.

Lang: With the tie in Scotland, Andy Murray will be motivated and more focused. I don’t think we will see the 55-unforced-error performances like in Dubai against 18 year old Borna Coric. Tipping Andy to take both singles matches to give Great Britain the 2 points. The Bryans’ Davis Cup experience and team chemistry should give them the edge in doubles. James Ward seems to have a knack for up showing up in DC so I would not be surprised if he scores an upset. With home field advantage, I’m going to give GBR the upper hand and say 3-2. But I hope Team Stars & Stripes can prove me wrong and avenge last year’s loss.

Patrick (who's currently in Glasgow): Bros in 4, Andy over DY in 4, Isner over Ward in 3, Andy over John in 5 and DY over Ward in 4

Baseline Bagels: I predict 3-2 Britain. Murray wins both matches and DY chokes 5th rubber. Courier fired for poor lineup choice.

Jonathan:
Murray d. Young 6-4 6-1 5-7 6-7(2) 6-3
Isner d. Ward 7-5 6-7(8) 3-6 7-6(1) 6-2
Murray/Murray d. Bryan/Bryan 6-7(3) 6-3 7-5 1-6 6-4
Isner d. Murray 7-6(10) 6-7(10) 7-5 0-6 9-7
Young d. Ward 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-4 22-20

Final: USA d. GBR 3-2.

Parsa: Overall prediction: USA: 3 Great Britain: 2

What's your guess? Vote in our poll!

Who you got: USA/GBR Davis Cup 2015



Full Parsa Overview 

We are less than a day away from the highly anticipated tie between the United States and Great Britain that will take place in Glasgow, Scotland on indoor hard courts in a rematch of last year’s first-round tie.  The lineups have been announced already, however they may be changed up to an hour before play begins. The tie will kick off Friday morning at 5 AM PT/8 AM ET and here is the schedule for this weekend’s tie:
Friday
  1. Andy Murray (GB) vs (2) Donald Young (USA)
  2. James Ward (GB) vs (1) John Isner 
Saturday
Dominic Inglot/Jamie Murray (GB) vs Mike Bryan/Bob Bryan (USA)
Sunday
  1. Andy Murray (GB) vs (1) John Isner
  2. James Ward (GB) vs (2) Donald Young
Prediction for Murray vs Young
All four meetings between Murray and Young have been in straight sets with Murray leading the H2H 3-1, the most recent match being last year’s World Group round one group match in which Murray dominated Young. Young should make this match much more competitive this time around as he currently is in outstanding form with an impressive 10-5 record in 2015 that includes a semifinal showing in Memphis as well as reaching the final in Delray Beach. Murray started the year off well as he reached the finals of the Australian Open before falling to world number one Novak Djokovic in four sets. Murray then disappointed by falling in the quarterfinals of both Rotterdam and Dubai, losing to Gilles Simon and 18-year-old Borna Coric respectively. Young won’t be able to overpower Murray with his serve or groundstrokes, but he does have a very crafty game and he has finally put together a string of consistent results. With that being said, he is going up against a two-time grand slam champion who is extremely motivated to win this tie in front of his home fans. MURRAY IN 4 SETS

Prediction for Ward vs Isner
Isner and Ward have only faced each other once and that was back in the 2009 Savannah Challenger in which Isner won in straight sets. Isner has had a horrid start to 2015 as he is 3-3 and all three losses were against players ranked outside the top-40. Meanwhile, James Ward achieved a career-high ranking of 101 in early January and just a couple weeks he qualified to the main draw of Dubai (ATP 500), before falling 4-6 4-6 to world number 13 Feliciano Lopez in the first round. Assuming Andy Murray takes care of business against Young, if Isner loses this rubber, then the tie is essentially over so this is a must-win for Isner and team USA. Indoor hard courts suit Isner’s game well and even though he hasn’t played well this year, he should be able to win a couple tie-breaks vs Ward. ISNER IN 4 SETS

Prediction for the doubles rubber
Andy Murray said it is highly unlikely that he will play in the doubles tie, so as of now it looks like it will be Inglot/J. Murray vs the Bryans. Inglot is a big server who has beaten the Bryans twice this year with his partner Florin Mergea. Jamie Murray, Andy’s older brother, is a solid doubles player who took the title in Brisbane earlier this year with John Peers. For their own standards, the Bryans haven’t played as well as they would like to so far this year, however they still do have a good 7-3 record and they won the Delray Beach Open. I expect the greatest doubles team of all the time to come out playing strong as they will look to win a vital rubber for the Americans. BRYANS IN 3 SETS

Prediction for Murray vs Isner
Murray leads the H2H 3-0 vs Isner with the most recent matchup occurring in the 2014 Cincinnati Masters round of 16 which Murray won in a third-set tie-break. Isner should be able to get a set off Murray with his big serve, but Murray is still the heavy favorite in this match as he possesses one of the best returns on tour which should be able to neutralize Isner’s serve on occasion. MURRAY IN 4 SETS

Prediction for Ward vs Young
Young and Ward never got the opportunity to face off in last year’s round one tie; they would have played each other in the fifth rubber had Sam Querrey not fallen to Ward. Young won their only meeting pretty handily 6-3 6-2 last year in Eastbourne. Ward is 9-7 in Davis Cup singles competition and Young is 0-1 with his only match being last year vs Murray. Although he will have to play in a very hostile environment featuring a British crowd that will be fully behind Ward, Young should be able to display his improved mental toughness and get the decisive victory for team USA! YOUNG IN 5 SETS

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