`You cannot be serious!’ – McEnroe in, Sampras and Agassi out

World number one 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.

Former world number one 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 U.S. 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, 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 U.S. 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 Spanish team, announced last month, is comprised of 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 U.S. defeated Spain, 4-1, in the 1991 quarter-finals in Newport, Rhode Island.

BRISBANE: Five days after losing to Pete Sampras in the Wimbedon 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.

The winners play either Spain or the United States in the final in December. Spain are favourites in that tie as Sampras and Andre Agassi have both withdrawn from the American team.