MALAGA, Spain — Bob Bryan, the U.S. team captain for the Davis Cup, knows all about winning at doubles, a fact made obvious by 16 Grand Slam titles and a recent selection to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Still, his decision to make a last-second change to his lineup in that format against Australia on Thursday led to a loss for the Americans.
With the best-of-three quarterfinal even at 1-1 heading into the deciding doubles match, Bryan opted to switch from an established duo, 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, to a pairing of two singles players, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton. They were beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson, putting the Australians in the semifinals and sending the Americans home, extending their drought without a Davis Cup title to 17 years.
“We were hoping to catch the Aussies a little bit by surprise,” Bryan said. “We took a shot at it.”
And missed.