Jack Sock, playing in his first career Davis Cup match, drew the United States level after the first day of play beating Farrukh Dustov 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. Sock’s win kept the United States out of a dubious 0-2 hole after Steve Johnson, also playing in first career Davis Cup match, lost to Uzbekistan’s No. 1 player Denis Istomin in a thrilling, topsy-turvy five-set opener 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-5 in three hours, 33 minutes.

“It was a tricky day with our two players making their debuts in singles and Jack playing impressively and Steve fighting exceptionally hard,” said U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier.

The Istomin-Johnson match was somewhat of Davis Cup classic, complete with unique drama in each set of the match, both players fighting off the strong play of their opponent, the unique pressure of Davis Cup, physical ailments and overcoming lost opportunities and fighting back from the brink.

Istomin served for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set, being two points from the win at 30-0, but temporarily lost track of his forehand to lose his serve and then lose the fourth-set tie-breaker 7-3. After receiving an injury time-out for treatment on his leg, Istomin was first broken in the third game of the final set, which set off a chain reaction of five consecutive service breaks, before Johnson held serve for 5-3 in the final set.

Johnson, who started to show signs of cramping midway through the final set, was twice within two points of the win himself – at 15-30 in the ninth game of the final set and at 30-0 in the tenth game – before losing serve to draw even at 5-5. Johnson lost his chance to close out the match when he chose to stop play to challenge a call on the red clay court on break point down, only to have chair umpire Emmanuel Joseph of Spain back-up the linesperson’s call by pointing to a mark that touched the line. Istomin then held serve and broke the next game to close out the victory.

“It was an incredible match and an incredible fight from both sides,” said Istomin. “It was up and down, both players fought hard.”

“It could have gone Uzbekistan’s way in the fourth set it could have gone the USA’s way in the fifth,” said U.S. Captain Jim Courier. “There were a lot of twists and turns in that match and credit obviously to Denis and his captain for sticking in there when he could have easily put the flippers on and gone way.”

Said Johnson, “This one stings. I‘m not going to lie. It’s a tough lesson to learn. I left it all out there on the court.”

“I don’t think I did anything wrong,” Johnson continued. “I was lucky to get into a fifth set. It’s a tough lesson to learn but credit to him, he played well in the end. He played well at the end to break back a couple of times (in the fifth set) and sometimes you have to say ‘Too good.’ Sock was then put in the position of winning in his Davis Cup debut to keep the U.S. out of an 0-2 hole and, after a hard-fought first set, cruised to a straight-set win.

Sock said after the match that Johnson’s loss did not add to his nerves, but made him more determined to get the U.S. back on track and level the day.

“I knew I had to kind of buckle down and try and try and get us a win,” said Sock. “I was able to do it, thankfully in three sets - get in and get out.”

For only the second time in the last 32 U.S. Davis Cup matches, a player with the last name of Bryan will not be in the doubles line-up on Saturday as world No. 1 team Bob and Mike Bryan are not participating for the United States. However, in their place, will be Johnson and partner Sam Querrey, who will play against Istomin and Dustov. The condition of both Istomin and Johnson after their grueling match will bear some watching in the doubles. The American duo enter the doubles with a hot hand though, having reached the semifinals of last week’s U.S. Open where they defeated the Bryans in the first round.

“Sam and I have played well the last couple of weeks,” said Johnson. “We know how we are going to play. We know how we play best. It’s going to be fun to go out there with Sam and go out there and compete. That’s why you compete in these events and try and get a win for your country.” Said Courier of the doubles, “There is no doubt we’d like to win the doubles. We certainly don’t feel like if we lose the doubles we are out of it by any means. We like our guys on Sunday as well. We know we are going to have to play some hot matches on Sunday no matter what. We will be ready to go for there. Our doubles guys are coming in razor sharp from New York, feeling good and hopefully Steve will wake up feeling good.”