McEnroe to Play in Davis Cup
N E W Y O R K, July 12, 2000 -- With Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras injured, U.S.Davis Cup captain John McEnroe knew which player to turn to for theteam’s semifinal against Spain: himself.
McEnroe’s name was among the four he announced today for thebest-of-five series at Santander, Spain, July 21-23. The41-year-old U.S. captain said he’d limit himself to doubles, “noquestion. You can bet your life savings.”
Agassi strained his back in a minor car accident this weekend,while Sampras was hobbled by a shin injured while winningWimbledon.
“We’ve lost two of the best players that ever played. Thiscertainly has not turned out the way I had it planned out in mymind,” McEnroe said, putting his team’s chances of beating Spainat 10 percent to 20 percent.
Agassi and Sampras are ranked third and fourth in the ATPChampions race.
Todd Martin, Jan-Michael Gambill and Chris Woodruff fill out theU.S. roster. None of them are in the top 25.
McEnroe Researches Options
McEnroe can substitute any of his four players up to 10 minutesbefore the July 20 draw for the semifinal, which will be played onslow, red clay. And the captain said he will talk to other players,chiefly Paul Goldstein and Vince Spadea (who ended an ATPTour-record 21-match losing streak by winning in the first round atWimbledon).
“I haven’t actually decided to compete at the moment. I’ve beenlooking at calling another couple players I haven’t been able toreach,” McEnroe said. “These pullouts came very recently. This isa stopgap solution at the moment.
“There’s a chance I won’t play. There’s also a chance I will.”
Agassi, Sampras Out
Agassi was injured Sunday riding from the airport to his LasVegas home, the U.S. Tennis Association said, and he can’t raisehis right arm above his shoulder.
“This condition is terribly disappointing to me as my teammatesand I have all worked very hard together to represent our countryin the Davis Cup competition,” Agassi said in a statement.
McEnroe sounded more forgiving of Agassi — whom the captaincalled “my main guy” — than Sampras. The 13-time Grand Slamchampion said Tuesday he probably was too hurt to play Davis Cupbut hadn’t talked with McEnroe at the time.
“I don’t know how injured [Sampras] is. There’s no way of meknowing that,” McEnroe said. “Davis Cup was something that was apriority to me. But, who am I to say? I wish he had made an effortto do it, and perhaps if he played a doubles match and been there,that might have been inspiring. …
“Who knows, maybe he’d be risking further injury if he playedright now.”
Tough Competitors Ahead
McEnroe was passionate about this international event during hisplaying days.
The Hall of Famer helped win five Davis Cup championships andhad a 59-10 record in 12 years of competition. He holds six U.S.records, including most singles (41) and total victories.
He became captain in September, replacing Tom Gullikson, and hastalked of putting himself on the team.
“At the moment, there’s not a lot of guys out there who havegotten themselves into a position where they should be playing[Davis Cup],” McEnroe said. “We’ll see what I do. I could lose6-1, 6-1, 6-2 and that would be embarrassing. If you go out thereand don’t play well, everyone can take potshots at you. It’s notlike I’m playing a couple of stiffs.”
The United States, which last won the championship in 1995, hadto rebound from 2-1 deficits in each of the first two rounds thisyear against Zimbabwe and the Czech Republic.
Now the Americans face a tougher opponent in Spain, which hasthree team members — Alex Corretja, Juan Carlos Ferrero and AlbertCosta — who reached the quarterfinals at the French Open, the onlyGrand Slam event played on clay.
“We had our hands full even if we had the best guys. They havethree of top 10 in the world on clay,” McEnroe said. “We’re goingto be huge underdogs. If we can pull this one out of the hat itwill be a real victory.”