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3/5/11 6:10 AM | Ricky Dimon
Paul Capdeville outlasts John Isner in five sets on Friday to keep Chile's hopes of a first-round Davis Cup upset alive and well. Capdeville comes back from two sets to one down to prevail after more than four hours of play.
John Isner is no longer winning the marathons that have made him famous in recent years.
Isner, who lost to Marin Cilic 9-7 in the fifth set two months ago at the Australian Open, succumbed to Paul Capdeville 6-7(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 7-6(5), 6-4 in Davis Cup first-round action on Friday afternoon. Capdeville wrapped up one of the biggest wins of his career after four hours and 22 minutes and brought host Chile to a draw with the United States on Day 1.
Before Capdeville's heroics, though, the Chileans found themselves on the brink of a 2-0 deficit. After Andy Roddick toppled Nicolas Massu in a four-setter to open the tie, Isner raced to a two-set lead by winning a pair of tiebreakers. But Capdeville was not about to go down without a fight when a raucous crowd continued to support him.
"The crowd was so important," the winner said afterward. "Everybody was saying, 'c'mon Paul you can do it,' and I thought in my mind 'yes I can.' I think the people (were) so big for me."
It was Capdeville who came up big over the final three sets. Just as the first two frames progressed without any breaks of serve, so too did the third and fourth. The world No. 165 dominated the third 'breaker seven points to three then seized the lone mini-break of the fourth one with a lunging backhand pass off the net-cord.
While four straight sets of zero breaks brought back memories of Isner's 70-68 in the fifth win over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last summer, it was not to be for the 6'9'' American this time. Struggling physically, Isner escaped several tough service games early in the fifth before finally surrendering on his opponent's seventh break chance of the set at 4-4. Capdeville had no trouble serving out the match one game later.
"This is my biggest victory," Capdeville noted. "I fought for every point. I was never giving up. I'm so happy for this victory and I'm so happy for the people that came today to watch."
Saturday's critical doubles tie will feature Bob and Mike Bryan against Massu and Jorge Aguilar. Isner, who has also played an extraordinary number of final-set tiebreakers throughout his career (including in a win over Roddick at the 2009 U.S. Open), would contest a decisive fifth rubber against Massu on Sunday if the teams split the third and fourth rubbers.
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