The past few days in San Diego had been gray and overcast with the threat of rain. This winter weather would be welcomed in the rest of the United States, but in Southern California they expect sun year-round. In contrast to Friday, Saturday was beautiful and sunny. The weather app says the temperature is 60 degrees, but it certainly felt warmer in the stands. This is tank top and shorts weather, perfect for sitting outside watching tennis in the left field of a baseball stadium.

Rubber 3:  Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan d. Colin Fleming/Dominic Inglot 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

Great Britain came into Saturday’s doubles match leading the U. S. 2-0 and decided to let Andy Murray have the day off. Dominic Inglot, playing his first Davis Cup tie, stepped in to join Colin Fleming, who had an 8-1 record in Davis Cup doubles matches.

Team USA’s best chance of winning a match this weekend was always going to be with Bob and Mike Bryan in doubles, even though the twin brothers arrived in the midst of an uncharacteristic two-match losing streak in Davis Cup play. Last year, they lost to Serbia in the quarterfinals and to Brazil in the first round, both in five-set matches. Prior to the bad run in 2013, the Bryans hadn’t lost a Davis Cup match since 2008.

The sunny blue skies may not be perfect for the red clay, however. World No. 6 Andy Murray told reporters yesterday that the sun is making this court faster and “quite slippy.” Friday’s damp conditions slowed down the court and made it easier to move during the singles matches, but today both teams seem to be skidding around more than they’d like. The players’ movement both sounded and looked slippery.

Nonetheless, Bob and Mike Bryan cruised through the first two sets, looking every bit the part of the world No. 1 doubles team that they are. Team USA went two for six on break points in the first set, winning 6-2 in just 24 minutes. The second set told a similar tale: Bob and Mike converted one of two break points and won the set 6-3.

Team Great Britain only needed one break point to change the narrative in the third set, and they took it. Fleming and Inglot broke the Bryans at 2-3 with a passing shot and held steady to win the set 6-3.

Perhaps taking inspiration from an old British saying, Team USA “stayed calm and carried on.” The Bryans grabbed an early lead in the fourth set, going up 3-0 quickly. At 4-1, they broke Great Britain again and never looked back. Bob and Mike got the job done on their first attempt to serve out the match, keeping Team USA’s hope alive another day.

Fleming and Inglot (No. 33 and No. 27 in the ATP doubles rankings, respectively) put up a good fight, but the Bryans were just steadier. The brothers are now 23-4 in Davis Cup doubles play.

Despite the positive outcome today, captain Jim Courier knows the team has a tough challenge tomorrow. “[Sam’s] going to have to play significantly better than he did yesterday to stand a chance against Murray,” he told reporters. “For Sam, it’s a free-swinging match. Hopefully he’ll go out there and let it fly and see where the chips fall.”

Asked what he would tell Donald Young about taking on Ward in the event that Querrey were to beat Murray, Courier simply said, “That’s between me and Donald.”

Fleming and Inglot were disappointed to lose the match but ready to show up tomorrow to support their players in the last two matches. Fleming noted that he struggled with returning serve today because he felt that he couldn’t push off or get sure footing, more so than usual on clay.

British captain Leon Smith was relatively upbeat after the loss, saying that being up 2-1 is a great position for his team – especially with two-time major champion Murray being a heavy favorite to beat Querrey tomorrow. Smith characterized Murray’s chances as “very good,” but his tone showed total confidence in his player.

Follow us on Twitter @TennisViewMag for updates on tomorrow’s singles matches.