MALAGA, Spain (Reuters) – United States skipper Bob Bryan stood by his decision to field debutant Ben Shelton in an inexperienced doubles duo after his side’s Davis Cup quarter-final loss to Australia on Thursday.
The tie in Malaga was poised at 1-1 after Shelton lost his first-ever Davis Cup rubber to Thanasi Kokkinakis despite having four match points in a third-set tiebreak before Taylor Fritz beat Australia’s Alex De Minaur.
Former doubles great Bryan surprisingly changed his doubles line-up for the decider, opting for Shelton and Tommy Paul rather than Olympic runners-up Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, both former doubles world number ones.
The bold move backfired, though, as Matthew Ebden, the Olympic doubles champion, and Jordan Thompson, who won the U.S. Open doubles title, won 6-4 6-4 to send Australia through to the semi-finals for the third successive year.
Bryan said the switch had been designed to catch the Australians off guard.
“It was a match-up decision in this case, and I wouldn’t change a thing,” Bryan told reporters. “We were hoping to catch the Aussies a little bit by surprise, but those guys rose to the occasion and served a high percentage, took care of their shots and stepped up.”
Ram, a four-times Grand Slam men’s doubles champion, had won 10 of his previous 13 Davis Cup doubles rubbers, while Krajicek had a 6-2 record. Shelton, 21, has no real doubles pedigree although he did partner Fritz to bronze at the Olympics.
“Thompson, obviously U.S. Open champion, finals of Wimbledon, a very accomplished doubles player. Matt Ebden won the Olympics,” Bryan said.
“Matt Ebden has seen Rajeev and Austin play a bunch in the last couple of years, he hasn’t seen too much of Ben and Tommy.
“It was a tactical thing trying to take them by surprise. Ben was obviously on the court for three hours earlier in the
day, you find rhythm out there. Tommy, you saw what he did at the Olympics. We took a shot at it.
“As a captain you have to make tough decisions. This wasn’t a black-and-white decision. It was razor-thin edge and we went with it.”
For Shelton it proved a day of heartbreak as U.S. hopes of adding to their record 32 Davis Cup titles were shattered.
“Bob trusted me,” he said. “I went out there twice today, I fought my ass off, and I didn’t leave anything out there on the court, but to not get a win in one of those matches hurts pretty bad.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
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