MALAGA, Spain (AP) — U.S. Davis Cup captain Bob Bryan knows all about winning at doubles—16 Grand Slam titles and a recent selection to the International Tennis Hall of Fame make that obvious—yet his decision to make a last-second change to his lineup against Australia on Thursday led to a loss.
With the best-of-three quarterfinal even at 1-1 heading into the deciding doubles match, Bryan opted to switch from an established duo, Paris Olympics silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, to a pairing of two singles players, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton. Paul and Shelton were beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson, putting the Australians in the semifinals and sending the Americans home, extending their drought without a Davis Cup title to 17 years.
“We were hoping to catch the Aussies a little bit by surprise,” Bryan said. “We took a shot at it.”
