Bryan brothers give U.S. a Davis Cup doubles victory over Britain

SAN DIEGO -- The “Bryan Bump” returned to the Davis Cup on Saturday.

As soon as Bob Bryan’s overhand smash on match point zipped past Britain’s Dominic Inglot and Colin Fleming, the celebration was on. Bob and identical twin Mike leaped into the air to do the famed chest bump they use to celebrate their victories.

The Bryans’ 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory Saturday pulled the United States to within 2-1 against Britain in the first round of the Davis Cup and ended the brothers’ Davis Cup losing streak at two.

“We’ve been waiting a long time to get another opportunity to get that bad taste out of our mouth,” Bob Bryan said. “It always feels bad to let the team down. We were kind of coming out of our shoes, really itching to get on the court.”

The match will be decided Sunday in reverse singles, when Wimbledon winner Andy Murray of Britain faces Sam Querrey. If Querrey can somehow pull an upset, it will then come down to James Ward of Britain against Donald Young. Murray won the opening singles match in straight sets against Young on Friday while Ward rallied to beat Querrey in five sets.

“We brought some good energy. Now it’s our job to get behind Sam and fire up for tomorrow,” Bob Bryan said.

“Sam has a win over Andy. What do you tell him?” U.S. coach Jim Courier said. “He has to play better than he did yesterday to stand a chance. Andy is a great player who plays well under pressure and tomorrow is going to be one of those matches, where Andy knows if he loses then everything is on the table in that fifth match.

“For Sam it’s a free swinging match,” Courier added. “So hopefully he’ll go out there and let it fly.”

The match is being played on a red clay court in a temporary stadium built against the left-field bleachers at Petco Park, the downtown home of baseball’s San Diego Padres.

Three World Group matches have been clinched with 3-0 scores: Switzerland over Serbia, Germany against Spain and France against Australia.

In other matches: the Czech Republic leads Netherlands, 2-1; Japan leads Canada, 2-1; Italy leads Argentina, 2-1.