Sam Querrey beats Ernests Gulbis in straight sets to set up All-American final

Sam Querrey to face John Isner in Memphis final

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Maybe the U.S. Davis Cup team isn’t in that bad of shape after all.

Sam Querrey and John Isner will meet in the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships just days after they were selected for the United States’ Davis Cup tie against Serbia in March.

Isner beat Philipp Petzschner of Germany 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in Saturday’s Memphis semifinals before Querrey defeated hard-hitting Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-3, 6-4.

“It’s awesome,” Querrey said of the two making the U.S. team on Wednesday and reaching Sunday’s final. “Kind of a confidence booster for us.”

For the first time since 2000, neither Andy Roddick nor James Blake will be on the U.S. roster. That’s a span of 25 Davis Cup ties. Querrey will be making his second appearance for the U.S. team while Isner will be making his Davis Cup debut.

Querrey beat Roddick 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 on Friday in the quarters.

The 6-foot-9 Isner and 6-6 Querrey are good friends and practice partners but have never faced each other professionally. It will be the tallest final ever on tour, according to the ATP.

The eighth-seeded Querrey broke Gulbis at 1-1 of the second set, then held on for the win. Gulbis, No. 99 in the world ranking, erased three match points before he was long on a backhand.

“He’s one of those guys who goes out there and just plays almost like with nothing to lose.” Querrey said. “He just kind of swings freely at every shot, and you’ve got to be expecting everything.”

Gulbis was hampered by soreness in his knees.

“I was hitting the ball pretty well, but I just couldn’t move, and go long in a rally,” he said. “I was trying to make the points faster.”

Isner’s match was on serve in the final set before he broke Petzschner to take a 5-3 lead. He then served out the match, rallying from 15-40 after a double fault.

Petzschner survived one match point, but could not survive a second, hitting his forehand into the net to give the 25th-ranked Isner the victory.

“I think, seriously, it was a 50-50 match,” Petzschner said. “If we played like this the whole season, he would win five, I would win five. It was just a matter of a couple of points. Maybe he was the more luckier today. Maybe he was playing better at the important points.”

The sixth-seeded Isner, who improved to 12-1 this year, said his ability to convert key points made the difference.

“The match did hinge on one or two points, that’s for sure,” Isner said. “I was lucky to come out on the right side of it.”