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Team approach McEnroe names U.S. Davis Cup squad
Updated: Tuesday February 06, 2001 1:13 PM
NEW YORK (AP) - Patrick McEnroe took a look at the future when he selected the team to face Switzerland in a Davis Cup match next week. That was one of the reasons he passed up his 41-year-old brother, John, for 18-year-old juniors champion Andy Roddick for the five-match competition that will be held Feb. 9-11 in Basel, Switzerland. "We need to start looking forward to the future and we need to start doing it now," said McEnroe, who is making his captain's debut. "My feeling is that the future is now." Besides Roddick, McEnroe selected veterans Todd Martin, Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob. "We got two guys that are in their early 20s in Justin and Jan-Michael that are proven players out there ... and this is the chance for them to really play in the spotlight of Davis Cup," McEnroe said. "And Roddick ... is an unbelievable talent and unbelievably passionate about playing for Davis Cup." Both Andre Agassi, who on Sunday successfully defended his Australian Open title, and Pete Sampras, who has won a men's record 13 Grand Slam tournament titles, have said they didn't want to play Davis Cup this year, although McEnroe said Agassi told him "first round." "I hope at some point down the road that they will want to be part of the team," McEnroe said. "What I want and what I have with this team are guys that are committed to playing Davis Cup." John McEnroe, who stepped down as Davis Cup captain after one year, offered to play doubles. Patrick had the future in mind. "I think he understands that we need to look to the future, and certainly to have John there would be invaluable with his experience," Patrick said. "But I think that having guys that are younger and that were more toward winning this match, of course, but also winning down the road ... is the best way to go." Martin, at 30 by far the oldest player on the team, will be playing in his 12th Davis Cup series. He reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, upsetting Sampras in the fourth round before losing to Agassi. "As it stands now, it will probably be Martin and Gambill in the singles," McEnroe said. "I don't know exactly what the doubles team will be. Some of that will be dependent on how we do on the first day and who plays the first day. ... That is part of the reason why I went with four guys that can potentially play singles." Gambill, 23, will be making his fourth appearance on a U.S. Davis Cup team. A quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2000, he holds a 1-3 Davis Cup record in singles. Gimelstob, 24, is coming off his best career performance in men's doubles at a Grand Slam tournament, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open with fellow American Scott Humphries. He won the 1998 Australian Open and French Open mixed doubles titles with Venus Williams, and will be playing on his second Davis Cup team. Roddick finished 2000 as the world's top-ranked junior, winning the junior singles titles at both the Australian and U.S. Opens. Since turning pro, he has won three Challenger events, including last week in Waikoloa, Hawaii. While he is making his Davis Cup debut, Roddick was a practice partner for the U.S. team that defeated the Czech Republic last April in Inglewood, Calif. "This group gives us a great blend of youth and experience and is representative of the type of team that we want to put forward," McEnroe said. "They are all enthusiastic and committed to the long-term success of Davis Cup for the United States."
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