SANTIAGO, Chile — Andy Roddick showed why he’s the go-to guy when the United States needs to close out a Davis Cup tie.
Roddick defeated Paul Capdeville 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-3 Sunday, giving the United States an insurmountable 3-1 lead in its 4-1 victory over Chile in the first-round Da
vis Cup World Group series.
Roddick improved 12-0 in matches that can clinch a Davis Cup matchup for the U.S. and is 33-11 overall in 24 ties since 2001.
“It’s always sweet, and every time you clinch one you think it’s the sweetest,” Roddick said. “I think it’s also pretty satisfactory when everything is stacked against you — you got the (clay) court, the crowd. It’s a mental grind and you have to try and ignore everything.”
John Isner finished off the 4-1 victory with a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 win over Guillermo Rivera-Aranguiz in the meaningless second reverse singles. It was Isner’s first win in four Davis Cup singles matches. He has two wins in doubles.
The victory was the first for new U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier, who played on the 1992 and 1995 winning Davis Cup squads.
“I like the way all of our guys responded to adversity out there,” he said. “John’s match was a very important match for us as a team to have him go out there and battle through and have him win in singles.”
The U.S. and Chile could have abandoned the dead-rubber fifth match under a new Davis Cup rule because the first reverse singles match went four sets, but Isner and Rivera-Aranguiz elected to play.
“It was important for him to come out of this not just feeling he had a win, but that he played his tennis in that last match,” Courier said. “And the same thing for Andy, in that match today he played a better brand of his tennis against a guy who probably had the best weekend of his career.”
The Americans advanced to the quarterfinals and will play at home in July against Rafael Nadal and Spain, 4-1 winners over Belgium this weekend. Roddick’s hometown of Austin, Texas, is being considered as the host, along with San Antonio and Albany, N.Y.
The U.S. team last played a home series in March 2009, beating Switzerland 4-1 in Birmingham, Ala.
“I think it’s been no secret that I’ve wanted that (to play in Austin), so I certainly appreciate the effort put forward and hopefully we can get it,” Roddick said. “It would be a dream come true to play at home a really cool experience.
“A guy named Rafa coming to town will provide a little bit of energy. It’s as good a second round as I’ve ever seen. Any place will be good, as I’m just happy it will be on U.S. soil.”
In the other first-round World Group series Sunday, defending champion Serbia handled India 4-1, Argentina closed out a 4-1 victory over Romania, Russia salvaged two matches in a 3-2 defeat to Sweden, Germany beat Croatia 3-2 when Philipp Petzschner outlasted Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), France ousted Austria 3-2, and Andrey Golubev and Mikhail Kukushkin lifted Kazakhstan to a 3-2 upset of the Czech Republic.
The No. 165th-ranked Capdeville was behind a break in the first set when he broke serve in the sixth and eighth games to go ahead 5-3 and serve out the set in the ninth game.
The No. 8-ranked Roddick patiently waited for his opportunity to pull away from Capdeville in the second set tiebreaker, taking a 5-0 lead.
“I wanted to make a boxing match out there,” Roddick said of his strategy against Capdeville. “I wanted to take his legs out first and foremost.”
Capdeville had little to give in the third set, and failed to convert two break-point chances while trailing 2-4 in the fourth.
Capdeville saved one match point on his serve in the eighth game, but couldn’t stop Roddick from closing out the match on his serve with a forehand crosscourt winner on his second match point.
“I thought the Chilean team showed a lot of character this weekend,” Roddick said. “They competed very hard. They never gave an inch and made us earn our victory.”
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