Bryans and Isner Upbeat Before Davis Cup Tie Against Brazil

Australian Open champions Bob and Mike Bryan and U.S. No.1 John Isner lead the U.S. Davis Cup team against Brazil this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida.

By Erik Gudris

(January 30th, 2013) -- After a long flight from Australia, the U.S. Davis Cup team is happy to be back on home soil as they take on Brazil in their opening round tie this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida.

While Australian Open men's doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan will once again play a key part in their team's chances, scheduled singles player John Isner is hopeful he will be able to compete after having to withdraw from Melbourne due to a knee issue.

"Really, once I pulled out of Australia, there wasn't much I could do besides rest," said Isner during a pre-event press conference yesterday.

"Rest was the most important thing. I can ice it five, six times a day. I can do some treatment on it. But the most important thing for me was rest. I definitely have that. My knee, it is feeling better. Hopefully I'll be able to go on Friday. I would really like that. We have to see how this week progresses."

Davis Cup captain Jim Courier announced that if Isner isn't able to play, Ryan Harrison, who is practicing with the team this week, will be asked to step into Isner's place.

Mardy Fish, who has been out of action for several months due to various health issues, is also practicing with his fellow Americans but will not be ready to compete.

While the U.S. team go in as solid favorites against the Brazilian team led by Thomaz Bellucci, the Bryan Brothers are expecting a tough contest against Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares who have previous beaten the 13-time Grand Slam champions.

"We're not taking them lightly at all," said Bob Bryan. "Soares is hot. They both won titles this year. They're playing well. Even though we have a lot of confidence, we're definitely going to be preparing well here on this court and using all our experience and coaching from Dave and Jim to put together the best game plan possible to beat them."

Having a home crowd advantage will be an added plus for both Isner and Querrey who will for the first time play a Davis Cup match in the United States.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say it's a huge, huge honor," said Isner. "We're excited to finally, myself and Sam, to play on home soil. We've never played a match in the U.S. I think both of us are looking forward to that. As the captain said, this match is the first step towards our goal. We're going to go out there and enjoy it and try to get it done."

The U.S. leads the overall head to head against Brazil 3 to 1 with the team's last victory coming in 1997. Brazil is returning to World Group play for the first time since 2003.

Isner will lead off the tie in the opening singles rubber against Thiago Alves followed by Querrey versus Bellucci in the second singles match. Play commences on Friday, 2p.m. EST at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

(Photo Credit: Erik Gudris)