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 Aussies up 2-love U.S. drops two singles matches as Sampras looks on
Posted: Friday July 16, 1999 09:57 PM
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) -- The concrete court sizzled at 126 degrees, and American Davis Cup hopes sank close to zero. While Pete Sampras sat in glum silence following his grand gesture of camaraderie, Australia's Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt swept the singles Friday for a 2-0 lead over the United States in their best-of-5 Davis Cup quarterfinal. Chances of a U.S. comeback are mighty slim, even with Sampras playing doubles Saturday. The United States is 1-28 when it has lost the first two matches of a Davis Cup tie, the exception coming against Australia in 1934. Gray-haired, 29-year-old Todd Martin looked slow and tentative from the muggy start of his match against the smaller, quicker, 18-year-old Hewitt, and utterly faded in the final two sets to fall 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-0. Jim Courier tried to even matters, but the net-charging tactics of Rafter, the two-time defending U.S. Open champion, overwhelmed him in key moments for a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 defeat. "I don't think it's in the bag at all, it just makes you sleep easier tonight," the cautious Rafter said. Australian captain John Newcombe couldn't have been happier, or prouder of his players. "That's as good as you could hope for," he said. "That's as good as it gets." Courier tried to put an optimistic spin on the miserable afternoon. "We had a tough day today, but we're still breathing," Courier said. Unlike the stuporous atmosphere that engulfed the first match when midday temperatures soared from 111 to 126 degrees on court and the air temperature approached 100, Courier had most of a wildly cheering crowd of 5,342 pulling for him. Among them at the genteel Longwood Cricket Club were five shirtless men with their chests painted G-O U-S-A in red, white and blue. It was the kind of raucous scene Courier loves, heat and all, but it wasn't enough. Courier broke Rafter's serve only once, in the first set, and was broken himself in the ninth game of each of the next two sets. "I just played a few sloppy points, and a few loose points in the tiebreaker, and that was it," Courier said. Sampras, fresh from winning Wimbledon for the sixth time, could have played for either Martin or Courier, but chose instead to limit his participation to doubles out of deference to their commitment to the Davis Cup earlier this year. Nice, perhaps, but potentially fatal for U.S. hopes to win the cup for the 32nd time in its centenary year. Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson went along with Sampras, but if the Americans lose it could cost Gullikson his position. "We're still alive, and certainly were hoping for 2-love our way," he said. "We'll try to win that doubles point and keep this match alive." Gullikson said losing the two singles matches didn't change his view that it was right to keep Sampras on the side. Sampras and Alex O'Brien are to play doubles Saturday against Mark Woodforde and Sandon Stolle. Then Martin is supposed to play Rafter on Sunday before a Courier-Hewitt finale. Only an injury to Martin or Courier would allow Sampras to play singles. Martin said he didn't feel he was under extra pressure because of Sampras' decision. "If Pete weren't comfortable with his position on the team, it would put pressure on me," Martin said. "We're all comfortable with our positions. If we're not good enough, then better luck next year." Fireworks and band music kicked off the day at Longwood, where the Davis Cup began 100 years ago. But the heat and Martin's lackluster play quickly sapped the enthusiasm of most fans. A small group of Australians, painted in the green and gold colors of their flag, outshouted the Americans spectators who sat waving paper fans. Sampras watched most of the first set with a towel over his head, rarely applauding or shouting encouragement to Martin, who fell behind on a break at 3-2 and never recovered. "I would have liked to play patient tennis, but the conditions didn't make it possible to do that," Martin said. "It's an awful lot of work for me to go side to side, and Lleyton does that well. When the rhythm went his way, it became a landslide in the last set." A hot breeze kicked up debris at times and made it difficult to control shots. But Hewitt, his face covered in white zinc oxide to block out the sun, handled the conditions much better. "I didn't play well," Martin said. "I won't make any bones about it. The first set I felt lousy. I definitely was a little shocked by the weather." Former President Bush sat for a while beside Australian Prime Minister John Howard, and Howard usually had more reason to applaud. Martin made a brief stand in the second set when he came back from an early break, pushed the set into a tiebreaker, and won that easily with the help of two aces and a service winner. But that effort came with a price: Martin was panting hard, and Hewitt and Australian coach John Newcombe sensed he was ready to be taken. Hewitt's speed and resilience, along with a punishing forehand, helped him break Martin to 4-2 in the third. Hewitt then ran out the match, with the help of some beautiful lobs and steady ground strokes, by taking 10 of the last 11 games.
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