US ditches 'road warrior' tag after Davis Cup loss

The U.S. is now quite happy to ditch its road warrior tag following the loss.

The Americans' strong 2012 run included away victories over both Roger Federer-led Switzerland and France on clay. But even those impressive victories couldn't propel it past the world's top clay-court nation, with Ferrer remaining unbeaten on the surface for his 16th victory.

Three straight road series took a toll on a U.S. team missing the retired Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish because of health issues, but captain Jim Courier expects his young team to remain positive heading into 2013.

He was also hoping Wednesday's draw would be a little more helpful, too.

"There is a lot for this team to be proud of and what we have achieved this year — the way we have approached it, attacked it and the draw, the obstacles we have had," Courier said Sunday. "We have been given the most difficult draw that you can have in this era to play the teams we have on the road. We had some great wins and we had some competitive losses."

Wednesday's draw for next season's World Group play will determine the 32-time champions' first opponent, with the Americans having about a 50-percent chance of hosting to open.

"We'll be ready for whatever happens, (but) it would be really nice to have a home tie, we didn't have one this year," Courier said. "The schedule is terrible for the players after the Australian Open."

Isner had been 4-0 on clay this season, including singles wins over Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but the 10th-ranked American couldn't maintain his strong start on Sunday. Isner was undone by 74 unforced errors and his own frustrations as the match against the fifth-ranked Ferrer slipped away.