USA wary of Kyrgios threat
USA Davis Cup captain Jim Courier knows the threat that an in-form Nick Kyrgios can pose in this weekend's quarterfinal.
190 King Arthur Terrace, Tennyson QLD 4105, Australia, 3 April 2017 | AAP
Jim Courier says his United States team will have to do something special to stop in-form Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios in their Davis Cup quarter-final in Brisbane starting on Friday.
Kyrgios arrived in Queensland on Monday morning fresh from his epic three-set semi-final loss to eventual champion Roger Federer at the Miami Open, widely rated one of the best matches in recent years.
The US team captain said world No.16 Kyrgios had been “on fire” since his second-round Australian Open exit in January.
“Nick has been playing some of the best tennis on tour this season so he’s in great form and he should have a lot of confidence,” Courier said. “We’re going to have to do something special to beat him.”
Kyrgios will lead Australia’s singles charge with world No.79 Jordan Thompson, while John Peers and Sam Groth will carry the nation’s hopes in the doubles.
The US will be headed by world No.15 Jack Sock and No. 23 John Isner, as well as Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, with Courier yet to decide on his doubles combination without the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, on board.
Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt said last week that the strong American team would feel they had two wins already banked given their large rankings advantage over Thompson.
Thompson impressed in Australia’s first-round win over Czech Republic at Kooyong in February.
“We’ve lost to a lot of players ranked lower than someone like Jordan Thompson so there won’t be any complacency on our end,” Courier said.
“We’ve seen too many surprises; we’ve beaten Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in this competition while we were ranked below and lost to players outside the top 100 so everything’s up for grabs in Davis Cup.”
The best-of-five match tie will be played on an outdoor hard court in Brisbane.