|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Resting for doubles Corretja left out of opening Davis Cup singles play
Updated: Tuesday December 12, 2000 6:15 PM
BARCELONA, Spain (CNN/SI) -- In a surprise move, Spain's top player, Alex Corretja, was left out of the opening singles matches for the Davis Cup final against Australia. Spanish captain Javier Duarte decided Thursday to rest Corretja, saving him for the doubles on Saturday and, most likely, the final day's singles against the defending champions. Albert Costa will face Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in the opening singles match Friday, with 20-year-old Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero playing Pat Rafter in the second match. In Saturday's doubles, Corretja will team with Juan Balcells against Sandon Stolle and Mark Woodforde. The schedule for Sunday's reverse singles has Hewitt vs. Ferrero in the first match and Rafter vs. Costa in the final match. Team captains can still change their lineup for Sunday, and Corretja is widely expected to replace either Ferrero or Costa in one of the matches. "I didn't think they'd leave Corretja out on Day 1, but obviously they're trying to keep him fresh for doubles," Australian captain John Newcombe said after Thursday's draw. "It took us a bit by surprise. It's not a bad tactic." The final at the Palau Sant Jordi arena is being played on red clay, the Spaniards' favorite surface. Spain has never won the Davis Cup, reaching the final twice and losing both to Australia on grass in the 1960s. Australia has won the Davis Cup 27 times. Hewitt is 2-1 against Costa, but the Spaniard beat the 19-year-old Aussie in four sets on clay at this year's French Open. Ferrero is 1-0 against Rafter. There is the possibility of a highly charged showdown between Corretja and Hewitt on Sunday. A feud between the two has been festering for months, heightened by the Davis Cup. Corretja defeated Hewitt in three sets in last week's Masters Cup and openly criticized the young Australian's chest-thumping and cheerleading, calling it "juvenile behavior." "He doesn't have many friends on the [ATP] Tour," Corretja said. Corretja was pounded 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 by Hewitt in this year's Australian Open. "He's a very expressive player who likes to put on a show," Costa said of Hewitt. "I think if he doesn't contain himself a bit, it's going to be bad for him. The fans aren't going to go for his gestures, and they'll react. But he does it everywhere, so he'll probably do it here." Spain has the best clay-court players in the world, Newcombe admits. "This is as tough as it gets," he said. But the Spaniards also have a bad habit of disappointing in team play. Despite enormous soccer talent, Spain has never won the World Cup or the European championship. In tennis, the Spanish women have been far more successful with five titles in the Fed Cup - the female version of the Davis Cup. "We love it," Corretja said. "This is what it's all about. You dream of playing a Davis Cup final, a French Open final, you even dream of playing a Wimbledon final. ... Every player on this planet would like to play this weekend, otherwise he's not considered a winner." Duarte has tried some reverse psychology. "We think the pressure is on the Australians because they have won 27 times and they will feel they must win again. The normal thing for Spain is not to win."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
