San Diego’s mild winter climate made it a natural choice for this first-round Davis Cup tie. Team USA’s choice of court type, however, was surprising: red clay, a surface not historically preferred by American players. The USTA turned left field of Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, into a temporary tennis stadium at an estimated cost of $750,000 .

U. S. Captain Jim Courier told reporters that clay was a unanimous decision from the American players once they learned their opponent would be Great Britain. “We thought it gave us the best chance,” said Courier. “It’s a surface that, unlike a lot of prior American teams, our guys actually excel on.”

The United States and Great Britain have a long history of Davis Cup competition dating back to 1900. The American team has an 11-7 record over the British, having won the last four ties. Great Britain last defeated the U. S. Davis Cup team in 1935. The question going into this weekend was whether the U. S. team, whose top singles player was ranked No. 49, would be able to overcome a team led by the reigning Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray.

Andy Murray d. Donald Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-3

The first match of the day marked Donald Young’s Davis Cup debut. The 79th-ranked American replaced an injured John Isner. Murray entered the match with a 2-1 record over Young, all three matches occurring in 2011. That year, Young pulled off a big upset over the Brit at the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells but lost two subsequent hard-court matches to Murray.

Murray outhit Young for most of the match, but the American had a few flashes of great play. Neither player displayed the clay-court prowess of a David Ferrer or Rafael Nadal, but both guys managed to slide into a few points. For example, Young made a beautiful slide up to the net to return a Murray drop shot for a winner in the first set.

Young was not able to convert either of his break points on Murray’s serve, but he did make his way to deuce several times. Murray broke Young six times (out of 11 opportunities) and hit seven aces on his own serve. The lanky Scot dictated the match and captured the first point of the tie for Great Britain with relative ease.

Donald Young spoke after the match about the experience of representing his country for the first time. “It’s an honor for me, something I’ve been dreaming about as a kid,” he reflected. “Everything seemed like it was in hyperspeed… Obviously [Murray] handled the situation better. [He’s] been there a few more times.”

Andy Murray’s appearance in the interview room was delayed as the Brit opted to spend more time with his physio. When he arrived, Murray expressed his excitement about being in contention to win the Davis Cup title for the first time in his career.

“I’ve never played in the World Group before,” he explained. “It’s a different mindset coming and being in the main competition. I’m excited this year. This is the 17th [Davis Cup] singles match I’ve won in a row, so it’s not like when I’ve played I haven’t been motivated.”

As he answered questions, Murray frequently turned his head toward the television on the side of the room to watch the second match, which featured teammate James Ward. Eventually, Murray and the media ended the questions as everyone gathered around the TV to watch the tiebreak in progress.

James Ward d. Sam Querrey 1-6, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1

The second match of the day saw Sam Querrey (No. 49) take on James Ward (No. 175). Querrey took an early lead by winning Ward’s first two service games and took the first set 6-1. After Querrey failed to convert on three break points in the second set, that set went to a tiebreak. Ward took advantage of the opportunity and raised his level to win the tiebreak 7-3.

Rather than being discouraged, Querrey regrouped and started the third set by breaking Ward in his first service game.  Having captured the set 6-3, he started the fourth set with strong serves and strode confidently around the court. Serving at 4-5, however, Querrey was broken as Ward forced a final set.

Ward gathered momentum in that final set as Querrey lost steam, falling behind 4-0 to start the deciding set. “Yosemite Sam” (as Brad Gilbert has dubbed him) managed to regain one of the breaks but lost his own serve again in the very next game. Ward then served out the match and shook both fists in celebration.

Even after taking a 2-0 lead in the tie, Great Britain team captain Leon Smith insisted that he wasn’t counting the victory as certain just yet. But he was pleased with how the first matches went. “It was an amazing day,” he said. “Incredibly brave performance from Ward.”

Ward counted his win today among his top three victories, along with beating Querrey at Queen’s Club in 2011 and upsetting Dmitry Tursunov last April in Davis Cup play. “I love playing for my country,” he said. “Obviously it brings something different out in me.”

Courier and Querrey maintained that they still had hope and emphasized that three wins are needed to clinch a tie. Despite losing two matches on the first day, Courier said he still thought clay was a good choice of surface.

What had seemed like a sure win for Team USA ended up as another point in favor of Great Britain. Now the only way for the U. S. to advance in the World Group would be for the Bryans to win tomorrow’s doubles match (a likely outcome), but also for Querrey to beat Murray and Young to beat Ward on Sunday (much less likely). Still, Davis Cup is all about upsets and miracles, so stay tuned for more recaps and follow us on Twitter @TennisViewMag for updates from Petco Park.