John Isner to Kick Off Day 1 vs. De Loore in USA vs. Belgium Davis Cup Tie
(April 5, 2018) The world No. 9, John Isner, fresh off winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title last week in Miami, was drawn first on Thursday at the Country Music Hall of Fame and will kick start the Americans’ World Group Davis Cup Quarterfinal tie on Friday vs. Belgium, facing Joris De Loore in a matchup between the U.S. No. 1 and Belgian No. 2 on an indoor hard court at Belmont University’s Cub Event Center.
The 32-year old Isner is coming off a week of tennis in which he beat three Top-10 players in Miami and regained both his career-high ranking and status as the top-ranked American man. He and the 24-year old De Loore, ranked No. 319 and nominated as the Belgians’ No. 2 singles player because of injuries to world No. 10 David Goffin and tour veteran Steve Darcis, have never played before.
There’s a bit more familiarity in Friday’s second singles match, as No. 14 Sam Querrey and No. 110 Ruben Bemelmans square off in the match between the American No. 2 and Belgian No. 1. Bemelmans is a 30-year old Davis Cup and tour veteran, but fell to Querrey in their only previous meeting, at a clay-court event in France in 2015.
Grand Slam doubles champions Jack Sock and Ryan Harrison were nominated for Saturday’s doubles match against former college tennis players Sander Gille, a former all-conference player at East Tennessee State and now the world No. 84 in doubles, and Joran Vliegen, who is ranked No. 98 in doubles and played at East Carolina.
Play begins at 4 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET) on Friday, April 6, and Saturday, April 7, and at 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) on Sunday, April 8. All matches are best-of-five sets until one nation clinches the tie. Sunday will feature a revised schedule if a team clinches in the third or fourth match. Tennis Channel will provide live daily coverage.
The winner of this tie advances to the World Group Semifinal, Sept. 14-16, to face Croatia or Kazakhstan. Should the U.S. win, the team will be making its first Davis Cup Semifinal appearance since 2012.
DAY / MATCH TIME
Friday, 4 p.m. CT
Singles A: John Isner (USA) v. Joris De Loore (BEL)
Singles B: Sam Querrey (USA) v. Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Saturday, 4 p.m. CT
Doubles: * Jack Sock (USA)/Ryan Harrison (USA) vs. Sander Gille (BEL)/Joran Vliegen (BEL)
Sunday, 2 p.m. CT
Singles C: John Isner (USA) v. Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Singles D: Sam Querrey (USA) v. Joris De Loore (BEL)
*Team captains may substitute the doubles team up to one hour before the match.
