By Chris Oddo | Friday April 7, 2017
Jack Sock and Steve Johnson battled past Sam Groth and John Peers to keep the U.S. alive on Saturday in Brisbane.
Photo Source: SMP Images
The road is long, but at least there’s still hope.
Jack Sock and Steve Johnson breathed life into the American team with a spirited five-set victory over Sam Groth and John Peers, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, to keep hope alive for the Americans in Brisbane.
“We're not the most standard doubles team, by doubles standards, I guess, but we complement each other well,” said Johnson, who is ranked No. 27 in singles. “We feel that if our names get called together, we're a formidable team."
Sock and Johnson battled from a set down to claim the second set and then claimed a 4-0 lead in set three. They would hang on to take the two sets to one lead but the Aussies soon rallied, winning five straight games to seal the fourth set and take the opening game of the decider.
But Sock and Johnson broke Peer’s serve for a 3-2 lead in set five, and not long after Sock saved a break point and held for 5-3 before the Americans broke Peer a second time to clinch the victory in two hours and 32 minutes.
“It feels obviously refreshing to have a challenge in front of us,” American Captian Jim Courier said. “We know it's a huge mountain to climb, still, but super-proud of these guys today. It was a tremendous effort against a high-quality doubles team, and it's going to take a really monstrous effort from us tomorrow, but we have great players on this team who are capable of great things that you saw today, so we're going to lay on one and see if it's enough.”
Focus will now shift to reverse singles where Nick Kyrgios is slated to face Sock in Sunday’s first rubber. If Sock prevails, John Isner is slated to face Jordan Thompson in the decider, but matchups are subject to change tomorrow.