U.S. effort at ATP Cup ends with loss to Great Britain

A dramatic deciding doubles rubber ended Team USA's hopes of advancing out of Group C at the 2022 ATP Cup. After splitting singles matches against Great Britain, John Isner and Taylor Fritz were beaten by Dan Evans and Jamie Murray, 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-8, eliminating the U.S. from semifinal contention with a 2-1 loss.

The Americans led by a set and a break at 7-6, 4-2, only to be pushed into a match tiebreak, where the Brits won the first six points. The victory kept Great Britain in semifinal contention, but those hopes ended later on Thursday when Canada defeated Germany 2-0 to win Group C. Team USA finished fourth in the group. 

Previously in singles, Evans beat Isner, 6-4, 7-6(3), before Fritz forced the deciding doubles rubber with a 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-1 win over Cameron Norrie, the reigning Indian Wells champion. The pair have now played nine times, with Fritz's win breaking a 4-4 head-to-head tie.

"Cam and I have played so many times, it's actually pretty ridiculous. Every single time, it's just an absolute battle," Fritz said. "I know that he can go into these modes where he will just not miss a ball and he kind of did that in the second and I was getting pretty frustrated with the shots he was coming up with.

"I had to just let it go in the third set, reset and try to serve a little better so he didn't get so many chances to hit those unreal shots and I upped my level a lot in the third and played really well."

For the week, Fritz went 2-1 in his singles matches, and also came from a set down to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in Team USA's 3-0 victory against Canada. Isner went 1-2, and the pair went 2-1 in their doubles matches. 

"It's huge for me to end the year how I ended the year and then pick up where I left off," Fritz said. "I have really high hopes for the season to start, and it would've crushed my confidence if I came here and lose three straight. I'm happy to pull out two wins over guys right outside the Top 10, really good players, so it just gives me a lot of confidence moving forward for the season."