BRISBANE, April 7: Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson have Australia placed on the cusp of making the Davis Cup semifinals after establishing a 2-0 lead over United States at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.
Kyrgios, enjoying arguably the best run of form of his career so far, showed impressive patience to nullify the big serve of John Isner and win their singles rubber 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
The triumph followed Thompson�s upset victory over top-ranked American Jack Sock, with the world number 79 winning 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 in a tense battle.
A win in Saturday�s doubles rubber could set up a semifinal date with Italy or Belgium in September for Australia, with John Peers and Sam Groth due to take on Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson.
Kyrgios looked confident and untroubled throughout his encounter with Isner.
He clawed back from 5-2 down in the deciding tiebreaker to finally end Isner�s resistance after nearly two-and-a-half hours.
�The crowd was unbelievable. Let�s hopefully close it out tomorrow,� world number 16 Kyrgios said on court after the win.
�He�s one of the best servers in the world, a proven player.�
It was a mature display from Kyrgios, who won through superior court coverage and generally stronger shots.
He gave away a whopping 15 centimetres in height but still managed to out-serve Isner, slamming down 20 aces to 15, many of them coming at key moments.
World number 23 Isner made a sizzling start and raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set.
But Kyrgios recovered to win it 7-5 and then held his nerve in the second-set tiebreaker.
Thompson�s victory continues the 22-year-old�s undefeated run for Australia in Davis Cup after he won both his singles rubbers on debut against Czech Republic at Kooyong in February in straight sets. � Agencies
�Wearing the green and gold, there�s no greater honour,� Thompson said.
The highest-ranked player in the tie at number 15, Sock looked tired and made 66 unforced errors to 44, with his forehand � considered his biggest strength � unusually off key.
Two double faults and two mistimed forehands from Sock gave Thompson the first break of the match at 5-3 in the first set.
