Sock, Harrison put US in Davis Cup semis
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Jack Sock and Ryan Harrison put the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 2012 by beating Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 5-7, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3), 6-4 Saturday to finish off an American sweep.
The United States now will play either Croatia or Kazakhstan in the semifinals Sept. 14-16.
John Isner and Sam Querrey set up the doubles match for the clincher by winning both their singles matches Friday at the Curb Events Center at Belmont University. Sock, who came in ranked 26th in doubles, and Harrison, 17th in the world, put the U.S. into the semifinals after taking three hours to finish off the Belgians.
The U.S. now is 5-0 alltime in the Davis Cup against Belgium.
For Gille and Vliegen, this was their Davis Cup debut coming only a few hours away from where both played in college. Gille went to East Tennessee State, while Vliegen played at East Carolina. The Belgians broke Sock and Harrison in Game 11 and took the first set 7-5 showing no signs of nerves as they scored on 80 percent of their first serves.
The Americans took the second set by fighting off two break points in Game 11, then they dominated by taking the final six points.
In the third set, Vliegen started struggling with cramps and had a foot fault when serving in Game 11. The Americans had three break points, but the Belgians fought them off to go up 6-5.
Sock and Harrison finished off the set again in a tiebreaker, and they avoided a third tiebreaker by breaking the Belgians to finish off the quarterfinals.
Germany pair Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff held off Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez to win 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 7-5 and take a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup quarterfinal Valencia, Spain.
Puetz served out the final game of the doubles rubber after 4 hours, 40 minutes on the outdoor clay court in Valencia’s bullring.
Germany saved five break points in the fifth set before winning a break to go up 6-5 and finally defuse Spain’s comeback.
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who leveled for Spain on Friday, is set to play world No. 4 Alexander Zverev on Sunday, followed by David Ferrer faces Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Spain will need to win both reverse singles to keep alive its quest to equal Italy’s Davis Cup record of 29 home ties without losing from 1949-64.
Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic won their second Davis Cup doubles together from an early setback to put Croatia ahead of Kazakhstan 2-1 in the quarterfinals in Varazdin, Croatia.
Dodig and Mektic beat Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in three hours on indoor clay.
The tie could be decided in the first reverse singles on Sunday, when former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic plays Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan. They won their singles on Friday. Cilic leads their matchups 2-1.
Dodig and Mektic fought back from a break down twice in the first set, but Khabibulin and Nedovyesov cruised through the tiebreaker.
Consecutive double faults by Khabibulin gave the Croatians the decisive AUTO RACING: With Stewart-Haas Racing already off to a sensational start this season, the decade-old team will now have the top three starters in a race for the first time Sunday. Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer qualified their Fords 1-2-3 at Texas Motor Speedway . ... Ryan Blaney became the third different Team Penske driver to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in the No. 22 Ford when he took the checkered flag on a chilly Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. Blaney was the pole sitter and led 132 of 200 laps. The Xfinity Series was back on the track after a two-week break since Joey Logano won in the No. 22 car at California. That was a week after Brad Keselowski drove that Team Penske entry to Victory Lane in Phoenix.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Gary Trent Jr. said he’s leaving Duke after one year for the NBA draft. Duke spokesman Mike DeGeorge said the freshman guard is in the process of hiring an agent.
HORSE RACING: Justify vaulted into the role of probable Kentucky Derby favorite with a three-length victory over Bolt d’Oro in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby. The colt paid $3.80, $2.20 and $2.10 as the 3-5 favorite in the field of seven. Bolt d’Oro returned $2.20 and $2.10, while Core break in the third game in the second. He lost serve again in the third game in the third.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut beat Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 for France to lead Italy 2-1 in the Davis Cup quarterfinals Genoa, Italy.
Herbert’s and Mahut’s constant net rushing proved too much to handle for the Italian pair, which fell apart late in the opening set.
Fognini missed an easy overhead smash and Bolelli served consecutive double faults when Herbert and Mahut broke to take the first set.
Fognini replaced Paolo Lorenzi in Italy’s doubles lineup.
In Sunday’s reverse singles on the outdoor red-clay court, Fognini faces Lucas Pouille, and Andreas Seppi meets Jeremy Chardy.
It will be a jam-packed finish for the Volvo Car Open on Sunday after Saturday’s semifinals were postponed because of rain Charleston, S.C.
No. 5 seeded Julia Goerges of Germany and Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, the eighth seed, began their opening set and were tied at 4-all when the match was postponed.
The schedule Sunday calls for American Madison Keys, seeded seventh, to play No. 12 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands at 10:30 a.m., followed by the conclusion of the Goerges-Sevastova match. Beliefs was another 6 ⁄ lengths back in third and paid $4 to show . ... Vino Rosso survived a stewards’ inquiry to win the $1 million Wood Memorial and earn 100 points toward qualifying for the Kentucky Derby. Ridden by John Velazquez, Vino Rosso ran 1 miles in 1:49.79 at Aqueduct for trainer Todd Pletcher. It appeared that Vino Rosso came over and bumped Enticed along the rail hard twice in the stretch. That prompted the stewards’ inquiry and an objection but after video review, there was no change to the order of finish. Vino Rosso paid $10.40, $4.40 and $3.40. Enticed returned $2.90 and $2.40, while Restoring Hope, trained by Bob Baffert, paid $3.30 to show.
SOCCER: Manchester United scored three unanswered goals in the second half and won 3-2, preventing rival Manchester City from wrapping up the Premier League title. ... Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and ensured Barcelona equaled a Spanish league record of 38 matches without a loss after beating Leganes 3-1 . ... Bayern Munich underlined its German dominance with a record-extending sixth consecutive Bundesliga title. Jupp Heynckes’ side defeated Augsburg 4-1 to seal its record 28th German championship.
Lose, and keep losing, to gather high draft picks and build a winner. That’s the full idea. It takes no brains. No creativeness. No discipline other than embracing the pain. And it’s taking over the sports world.
Sure, one year of losing, of tanking, is acceptable. Most teams have done it. Even the Heat. It’s how they drafted Dwyane Wade.
“That season is miserable,” Heat president Pat Riley once said. “And if you do it three or four years in a row to get lottery picks, then I’m in an insane asylum. And the fans will be, too. So who wants that?”
The Cleveland Browns. The Orlando Magic. The Chicago Bulls. There’s a long list of teams with this losing mentality, including the Marlins, because baseball is infected almost beyond repair.
Look at the Marlins division. Atlanta, Philadelphia and the Marlins are all in the various stages of a five-year tank job. Washington and the New York Mets aren’t just the only teams contending for the title. They’re the only ones that want it.
“Trust the process,” became the slogan for the Philadelphia 76ers.
“Come back in five years,” is the hope.
It can work. The Houston Astros won a World Series. Coupled with the fact baseball has no salary cap and low-budget teams can’t spend like the handful of top teams, it’s tempting for some teams to follow.
In basketball, one player can change a franchise. Philadelphia has drafted two certified stars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. It also drafted others high that didn’t work: Michael Carter-Williams, Jahlil Okafor and, through one year, top pick Markelle Fultz.
But for every Houston and (maybe) Philadelphia, there’s a group of other teams trying to do the same. And losing. The Browns are the most embarrassing example. They’ve been purposely losing in pro football since 2013 to gain high draft picks.
New England, Green Bay and Pittsburgh haven’t drafted high in the NFL this millennium. They keep getting good players, keep building winning seasons and continue being the gold standard of the sport.
Why? Because they’re smarter. They’re more visionary. That’s what you want winning teams to be in sports. Not simply awful.
Riley is so vexed by serial tanking in the NBA he floated an odd plan to counter it: A playoff for the 14 lottery teams. The team that won would be given the top pick.
In other words, teams couldn’t tank the last two months because they’d need to maintain a sense of winning to get the top pick. But then Riley is a dinosaur in sports, a leader who wants to win every year out.
That’s why the Heat are admirable. They win titles in their best years and (usually) don’t throw away seasons in their worst years. Then again, Riley is the anti-Hinkie.
He brought GQ to the NBA sideline with his panache and haberdashery, even matching belt buckles to his championship rings. Hinkie’s wardrobe consisted of 25 blue blazers, all size 40 regular, so as to sidestep executive, “decision fatigue.”
Hinkie was forced out of Philadelphia at the end of the 2016 season, showing the pain in losing. But his Frankenstein is up and winning enough for a third seed with three games left. The Heat have the sixth seed almost sealed.
The matchup is almost set. Sure, the odds will be against the Heat. But truth, justice and the American Way will be for them.
dhyde@sunsentinel.com or Twitter @davehydesports