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U.S. Open Notebook

Singing McEnroe's praise

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Posted: Thursday September 09, 1999 11:14 AM

John McEnroe compiled a 59-10 record as a Davis Cup player. AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- John McEnroe's appointment as captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team was greeted with enthusiasm by Hall of Famer Don Budge, who played for the trophy from 1935-38.

"John will do a good job," Budge said. "He'll motivate the guys to practically kill themselves to win matches. John feels as I did that it is a thrill to play Davis Cup. He always put himself out to be part of the Davis Cup team. He's at the top of the list as far as players supporting Davis Cup. He would kill himself to win a match."

Positive approach

After losing to Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals, Mary Pierce tried to find the bright side .

"I try to take the best out of everything, and be optimistic and positive so that I can learn from that experience and go forward from there," she said.

What did she take from this match?

"She's No. 2 in the world, was No. 1," Pierce said. "I had two match points. I have to look at it that way, that my game is coming along and I need to work hard to improve."

Who's n-n-nervous

After surviving two match points against Mary Pierce and winning their quarterfinal in three sets, Lindsay Davenport was asked if she ever gets nervous in tight, tough matches.

She flashed an "Are You Kidding?" look.

"You can't help but get nervous," she said. "Anyone who says they don't get nervous is lying."

No. 37

John McEnroe is the 37th United States Davis Cup captain since the competition began in 1900. Only three of the first 36 had losing records.

Beals C. Wright, player-captain from 1906-1908, was 1-3. Maurice E. McLoughlin, who had the same role in 1909 and 1914 was 0-2, and Charles Garland, the captain in 1927, was 0-1.

The winningest United States captain was Tom Gorman, who was 18-6 from 1986-1993.

See ya later

Serena Williams and Monica Seles, opponents in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Wednesday night, will be teammates in 10 days.

Williams and Seles are on the U.S. Fed Cup team that will face Russia Sept. 18-19 at Stanford University.

Serena's sister, Venus, and Lindsay Davenport are the other members of the team, giving the United States four of the top six players in the world.

Bonjour, mes amis

Andre Agassi's quarterfinal match against Nicolas Estude marked his 36th career match against a French player. That gave him almost as many matches against Frenchmen as Estude had career victories.

Estude was the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.

 

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