Injury-hit US squad turns to McEnroe for succour

After a surprising turn of events over the last 72 hours which has led to the exclusion of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, United States Davis Cup captain John McEnroe has named himself temporarily as one of the four players on the US team.

Todd Martin, Jan-Michael Gambill and first-round hero Chris Woodruff round out the US squad. But McEnroe said that his inclusion on the team is a “stop-gap solution at the moment,” and he will contact others to take his spot.

Sampras overcame tendinitis in his left shin to win his record 13th Grand Slam and seventh Wimbledon title on Sunday at the All-England Club, but was advised by his doctor to take 2-3 weeks off.

Agassi gave McEnroe another unexpected blow after he suffered back injuries in a car accident Sunday in Las Vegas after coming back from England. He has been advised not to play.

“We’ve lost two of the best players that ever played,” McEnroe said. “To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.”

Perhaps the greatest US Davis Cup player ever, McEnroe compiled a 59-10 record in 30 ties over 12 years and played on Cup-winning teams in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1992. He holds American Davis Cup records for wins, ties played, years played and singles wins (41).

Meeting a deadline to announce the team, the 41-year-old McEnroe stated that if he does play Davis Cup, it would only be in a doubles capacity.

“I haven’t actually decided to compete,” he said. “There is a good chance I won’t play, but there is a chance I will play, and if I take the court, I’m not going out there to lose. Until yesterday, it wasn’t even something I was thinking about.”

After the US squeaked by in the first two rounds to earn a semi-final berth, McEnroe said the chances of going to Europe and defeating a strong Spanish contingent of players like Alex Corretja and Juan Carlos Ferrero are “probably 10-20 percent.”

“They’ve (Spain) got three of the top 10 players in the world on clay,” McEnroe said. “Now we’re going to be huge underdogs.”

The 28-year-old Sampras did not play for the US in the team’s first-round tie at Zimbabwe in February due to a hip injury he suffered during the Australian Open. He split his singles matches for the Americans in their quarter-final victory over the Czech Republic in Los Angeles.

Agassi, the 1999 French Open champion, had gone unbeaten in four Davis Cup matches this season, and his untimely accident has given McEnroe his biggest challenge since taking over as captain in September.

“I didn’t realise that this would be taking place,” McEnroe said. “I guess I was looking at it optimistically. I was hoping that my presence would make a real difference. At this point you either call it bad luck or it hasn’t made a difference.”

The tie will be held at a 10,500-seat temporary stadium at the Real Sociedad de Tenis de la Magdalena in Santander, Spain from July 21-23.

The Spanish team, announced last month, comprises Corretja, Ferrero, Albert Costa and Juan Balcells.

This will be the fifth all-time meeting in Davis Cup between the two countries, with the United States leading the all-time series, 3-1. In their last meeting, the US defeated Spain, 4-1, in the 1991 quarter-finals in Newport, Rhode Island.

Rafter plays Kuerten

BRISBANE: Five days after losing to Pete Sampras in the Wimbledon final, Pat Rafter will have to take on French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in the opening rubber of Australia’s Davis Cup semi-final against Brazil in Brisbane.

Lleyton Hewitt will play Fernando Meligeni, a 1999 French Open semi-finalist, in the second rubber, also on Friday. Sandon Stolle, in for the injured Mark Philippoussis, teams up with Mark Woodforde, who last week won a sixth Wimbledon doubles title, for Saturday’s doubles. Hewitt plays Kuerten and Rafter tackles Meligeni in Sunday’s reverse singles.

Zimbabwe upbeat

HARARE: Zimbabwe have high hopes of a rapid return to the Davis Cup elite top 16 when they take on Romania here from Friday in a Euro-African zonal final qualifier.

Key player Byron Black is in form, having reached the last eight of the Wimbledon singles two weeks ago, the first time any Zimbabwean had got that far. Byron, aged 32, whose World ranking is 23, will again team up with his younger brother Wayne, who is in the top 100.

The Black brothers, who have been the mainstay of Zimbabwe tennis for several years, are supported by Kevin Ullyett and Gwinyai Tonqoona.

Romania’s hopes rest largely on the performance of their No 1, Andrei Pavel, whose World ranking is 25.