Bob Bryan Speaks About Davis Cup Positives After Loss To Czechia

The U.S. Davis Cup team’s 3-2 loss to Czechia in the Davis Cup second round in Delray Beach, Florida was obviously a disappointment for the U.S. team and fans of American tennis. However, Bob Bryan, the second-year U.S. Davis Cup captain spoke right after the loss about positives that came out of the weekend and what he and the team are grateful for. The following are some of the comments made by Bryan in his post-even meeting with the media.

It was definitely nice to be here on home soil and playing in front of the home fans. There is nothing like a home-and-away in Davis Cup. It’s cool for this community to feel that Davis Cup energy and what it can be. This event has a lot of history and we all love it, and I think the fans really enjoyed their couple days here.

Obviously would have been better had we got it done, but still a lot of inspiring performances out of this team. You know, Taylor Fritz, who wasn’t able to practice all week and was in bed with a sickness, came out and played two great matches. Dug deep. Had a huge win for us on day one, and really proud of the way he competed. You know, not feeling his best, but he played some spectacular tennis and just ran up against a little bit tougher opponent today. And our doubles guys, Rajeev and Austin, delivered one of the most epic matches I have been on the bench for. You know, high-level tennis for three hours. You know, ups and downs, momentum shifts. You know, they came up with the goods. They raised their level and had the crowd on their feet, which is all you can ask for. So I was very honored to be out there with them during that moment.

You know, hats off to the Czech team. Tomas Berdych came in here and prepared his team well. It’s a tough team on paper, and they played, you know, like they can. They hit big serves on the breakpoints, on the big points, and, you know, they deserved to win. They’ll be dangerous in Bologna, and that’s a team that can win the tournament.

You know, hats off to them.

There was a lot (to be positive about) even though, you know, the team didn’t get it done and we lost this tie, there were still so many inspiring moments during this week. You know, starting with our staff who gives us everything they have every day, and we have the best in the business in every category, whether massage, stringing, physios, coaching staff. We have a hell of a team. I would love to play with those guys next year.

Reilly Opelka, who didn’t play a match here, but, you know, he’s been practicing here since Saturday. Every day he was out there doing everything we needed of him, cheering on the sidelines, bringing the energy in the locker room. You know, everything that Reilly brought, you don’t see it, because he wasn’t in the win-and-loss column, but he adds a lot to this team. It was great to have Jay Berger make a guest appearance. He’s been — I think he did 13 years with the Davis Cup team, so it’s nice to have him back. David Macpherson, who was our coach on tour for 15 years, was here. Mark Bey, genius tennis mind from Chicago, great buddy, helped us many years on tour, was here. My brother did an amazing job, as always. It was, you know, you don’t see all these little things, but, you know, it makes the week a lot more fun. Even though we didn’t win, I’ll still leave here with great memories.