Davis Cup shocks

The American Davis Cup team has paid a heavy price for the non-involvement of its top players. Pete Sampras and Michael Chang have never been great supporters of the team event, and opted to rest after the long US summer season. Andre Agassi and Jim Courier, usually stalwarts for the team, were both unable to play for different reasons. Courier has a bad arm injury, and also didn't have the form to make it to the US team. Agassi meanwhile already had a charity commitment in Las Vegas during the tie, and criticised team management for not staging the tie on America's West Coast.

The result of the absence of these 4 American superstars was a relatively inexperienced team representing them in the semi-final match against Italy. Of the team, only Todd Martin had previously played in a live tie. Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob made their debuts, with the latter playing with Todd Martin in the doubles.

The Italian team consisted of David Sanguinetti, Andrea Gaudenzi, Diego Nargiso and Gianluca Pozzi. They outclassed the inexperienced Americans, eventually winning the tie 4-1. By the end the US team complained that hard-courts used at the Milwaukee Arena played too slow, and favoured the Italians who grew up on slow clay-courts.

This surprise result for the US team raises 2 important issues for them. Firstly it has to be decided whether or not the top players genuinely want to play for their country, and to win the Davis Cup. An agreement needs to be reached, so that a relatively consistent and experienced team can be built up and provide some much needed stability. Players like Agassi particularly need to sit down with team management and address issues which are causing unnecessary friction.

Secondly, it raises the question about the future of men's tennis in the US. The result of this tie seems to demonstrate that once Agassi, Sampras, Courier and Chang retire, something of a void will be left. Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob are good honest players, but at this stage neither appear to have superstar potential. This is no criticism of them, but rather a comment on the state of American men's tennis in general.

Other news

In other news, Sweden trounced Spain by 4-1 in a home match to reach the final against Italy. Australia regained its place in the world group for next year, beating Uzbekistan by 5-0, with US Open champion Patrick Rafter winning both of his matches comfortably in straight sets. With the possibility of Mark Philippoussis patching up his differences with team management, Australia could be a formidable team in 1999.

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