After Bryans deliver, Isner must against Spain updated 2:11 p.m. GIJON, Spain (AP) -The Bryan brothers delivered as expected on Saturday. That just leaves John Isner to perform the unexpected against Spain if the U.S. is to have a chance of reaching the Davis Cup final. Mike and Bob Bryan won their doubles point to cut Spain's semifinal lead to 2-1 and put the semifinal on the shoulders of America's highest-ranked player, who must hand David Ferrer his first-ever singles loss on Davis Cup clay. The fifth-ranked Ferrer is 15-0 on the surface, but Isner must win and show he has recovered from Friday's emotionally draining five-set loss to Nicolas Almagro. "John knows how to separate yesterday from tomorrow," U.S. captain Jim Courier said on Saturday. There will be no need for a fire up speech. He'll be ready. Should Isner win, teammate Sam Querrey will play Almagro - who is 8-1 on the surface - for a spot in November's final. The U.S. has only ever once bounced back from a 0-2 deficit - in 1934 - and doing it again against the defending champions and most dominant clay-court team will make history. "Until it's over, I think Yogi Berra said it best," Courier said from the Asturian coastal city on the Bay of Biscay. Spain is eyeing a fourth trip to the final in five years, having won all previous 37 World Group ties when they have swept the opening singles. The U.S. odds improve when it's down 1-2, having done it five times with the last being in 2000. "These guys did a great job and I'm sure Spain's ready to put us away," Courier said, "but we've two guys ready to fire tomorrow so we'll take our chances and see what happens." The twins were stretched by Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez in a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory in which Granollers was hampered by a left calf injury picked up in the second set. Granollers stayed in the match but Spain lost momentum and mobility as the Bryans kept alive the visitors' chances of reaching November's final in front of a near capacity 15,000 spectators at the purpose-built venue. "It was a battle," Bob Bryan said after the brothers kept the U.S. from losing a tie for the fifth time. We came here to get a win, we kept the team alive. It wasn't pretty all the time but a win's a win and we're happy with that. Mike Bryan stumbled chasing down a drop shot to miss out on the first match point, but Lopez provided the U.S. with it on the second opportunity as he double-faulted. "It's a shame because we felt really good today," said Lopez before alluding to his own calf problem that forced him to retire from the U.S. Open doubles semifinal. It happened to me in the U.S. one week ago, it's tough. The Bryans took the opening set before Spain bounced back with an early break in the second set for a lead it would not relinquish despite a marathon third game that appeared to take its toll on Granollers, who limped off to have his calf treated. "I definitely would have retired," Spain captain Alex Corretja said. Despite Corretja calling on him to retire rather than risk injury, Granollers continued and eventually improved as Lopez carried the hosts through the opening sets. Lopez also sported a bandage on his own left calf. "It wasn't easy to play a guy that was potentially injured," Mike Bryan said after the 3-hour, 38-minute match. I thought we played safe for a set and a half. The Bryans managed to rally each time Spain seemed to gain an advantage and focused their attack on Granollers, and his discomfort and erratic groundstrokes proved costly as he netted many of Spain's 74 unforced errors. The winner plays either Argentina or the Czech Republic in November's final. Follow Paul Logothetis on http://twitter.com/PaulLogoAP