Return Winners: The Switzerland-U.S. 2012 Davis Cup tie

If there were ever any doubts about the unpredictability of Davis Cup, this tie between Switzerland and the U.S. surely dispelled them.

The Setting

In 2011, the U.S. team was perfectly poised to make a deep run in the international team event. In the first round, they defeated Chile on the road on clay, considered the toughest surface for many Americans. Team USA hosted a Spanish team that was without Rafael Nadal on hard courts in Texas. However, the squad got a taste of the same medicine it doled out to Chile, losing the tie at home on its best surface.

Meanwhile, Switzerland had to play a qualifying match against Australia on the road. The Swiss team had both Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka at its disposal. Federer won both of his singles matches, and the pair dropped the doubles rubber. It came down to a live fifth rubber, and Wawrinka—who lost to Bernard Tomic in his opener—beat Lleyton Hewitt in five sets to put Switzerland back in the World Group.

Switzerland was drawn to play the U.S. in the 2012 first round and had choice of surface. Naturally, the team went for clay, to blunt the big serves of the Americans.

The Tie

Playing on the road, on the dirt and missing one of its best doubles players (Bob Bryan), the U.S. squad faced unreal odds before the first ball was even struck. In the first rubber, Wawrinka faced Mardy Fish. The first set went to Fish in a bit of a surprise, before Wawrinka took the next two. Fish kept battling and won the next one, to force a decider. The two went back and forth in the fifth until Fish took it 9-7 to give the Americans a 1-0 lead.

In the second rubber, Federer faced John Isner. As expected, the Swiss captured the first set. But Isner, serving as big as usual and buoyed by the indoor conditions, won the second set. In the third, the two played a tiebreaker, which Isner won behind a mini-break. Victory was in sight for Isner and he rolled through the fourth set, 6-2.

No one could have predicted a 2-0 lead for the U.S. Usually, what was a sure thing—the Bryans winning the doubles—wasn’t this time since Bob missed the tie to be home for the birth of his first child. Mike Bryan teamed up with Fish to play Federer and Wawrinka. The Swiss team won the first set, but the next three went to the Americans, giving them the sweep.

Dead rubber wins by Ryan Harrison and Isner completed the 5-0 drubbing.

Notable Numbers

7

Federer competed in seven play-off ties between 2005 and 2012. He skipped the Davis Cup in 2011, and with the 2012 loss to the U.S., he was forced to try to make the World Group again. Switzerland defeated the Netherlands in its playoff tie later in the season.

2

Fish and Bryan had a perfect mark 2-0 as a team, having partnered in the 2008 semifinals against Spain.