US wins doubles with Fish and Isner to take 2-1 lead in Davis Cup playoff against Colombia

US wins doubles and takes 2-1 lead over Colombia

BOGOTA, Colombia — Mardy Fish and John Isner beat Colombia’s Robert Farah and Carlos Salamanca 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 on Saturday to give the United States a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup World Group playoff.

In Sunday’s reverse singles on the outdoor red clay court at Santamaria bull ring, Fish is slated to open against Santiago Giraldo, and Sam Querrey will face Alejandro Falla.

Fish could make a bit of history on Sunday. The last American to win three times in a tie was Pete Sampras in the 1995 final in Moscow.

Asked if he would be tired Sunday, Fish replied: “Not at all. This is what we train for. That’s why we got here early.”

If Fish fails to clinch the match, the pressure will be on Querrey — or Isner, if U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe makes a change. Neither has won a Davis Cup singles match.

The United States would stay in the World Group by winning the tie. If Colombia wins it would advance to the World Group for the first time.

The United States has dropped out only once since the World Group began in 1981. The Americans have won the Davis Cup a record 32 times, the last in 2007.

McEnroe, retiring as U.S. captain after the matches Sunday, initially announced he would pair Ryan Harrison with Isner in doubles, but shifted to the more experienced Fish, despite Fish playing a 4-hour singles on Friday in beating Falla.

“I think everyone is going to feel good since everyone has had one match out there,” McEnroe said. “We will see who is feeling good in the morning. It is good to have a lot of options.”

After the U.S. won the first two sets, Colombia kept itself in the match by winning the third. The South Americans led 3-0 but then failed to convert two set points at 6-5 and went into a tiebreaker, where they raced to 6-2 and held on to win 7-5.

Fish and Isner stepped up in the fourth set, surged to a 4-1 lead and then relied on Fish to serve out the match in just under 3 hours.

Colombia captain Felipe Beron tried to stay upbeat.

“We recognize the Americans were good. They played well, but we are not out of it,” Beron said. “We can come back from being down 2-1.”