The United States faces off with Croatia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Portland, Oregon. This is the fourth time the two nations will square off, with the Croats having won all three previous ties in 2003, 2005 and 2009. Both teams are at full strength for this encounter. John Isner, Jack Sock, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan lead the Americans against a Croatian squad made up of Marin Cilic, Borna Coric, Ivan Dodig and Marin Draganja. The winner of this tie will advance to the semifinals and play either France or the Czech Republic.
Opening Day
Jack Sock will open the tie against Marin Cilic. Sock is 2-1 in his career in Davis Cup play, all in singles. In his last outing, he reached the third round of Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to eventual finalist Milos Raonic. Cilic also last played at the All-England Club, reaching the quarterfinals, losing to Roger Federer in five sets after having a two sets to none lead. Cilic has a fine record in singles, going 18-8. He was the catalyst when Croatia defeated the United States in this very same round in 2009. The two have never played before.
In the second rubber, John Isner faces youngster Borna Coric. His singles record is surprisingly only 10-9. One of those ten wins was a four-set victory over Bernard Tomic to clinch the Americans' first-round tie over Australia. Isner's best results this year are a semifinal appearance in Houston and a quarterfinal in Auckland. Coric has just a 4-4 career record in this competition, but he did defeat Kimmer Coppejans in the deciding rubber of the Croats' first-round tie to knock out last year's finalists, Belgium. Coric has had a breakout year, reaching two finals in Chennai, losing to Stan Wawrinka and in Estoril, falling to Argentine Federico Delbonis. Isner and Coric have never played before.
US has a significant edge in doubles
The Americans can take comfort in knowing the greatest doubles team of all-time is in their squad. Bob and Mike Bryan are a combined 51-8 in Davis Cup play, all but one of those wins together (Mike played one match with Andy Roddick against Spain when Bob had an elbow injury). The brothers have won 112 titles together, an all-time record, including 16 Grand Slam titles. They reached the final of the French Open this year and also won in Rome. Dodig and Dragjana have never played together and they have a very poor 9-15 record combined. Dragjana hasn't even played a tie since last year, losing the doubles when the Croats got swept by Serbia.
Reverse Singles
John Isner will face Marin Cilic to start out action on Sunday. Cilic has never lost to Isner in five career meetings, their most recent encounter a 12-10 fifth set win at Wimbledon last year. Expect a very close encounter. Sock and Coric close proceedings and if this is a live rubber, the Americans have an edge with the big-hitting Sock. Overall, this should be a very close tie with the home-court advantage and depth in squad being the difference for the States.
Prediction: United States 3-2