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Davis Cup Final : Wilander and Nystrom Team Up to Put Sweden in Command, 2-1

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From Times Wire Services

Mats Wilander and Joakim Nystrom, teaming up for the first time in Davis Cup play, beat Boris Becker and Andreas Maurer in straight sets Saturday to put Sweden within one match of retaining the Davis Cup trophy.

Wilander and Nystrom defeated the West Germans, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, in 1 hour 19 minutes.

The Swedes, ahead, 2-1, in the best-of-five series, need to win only one of two remaining singles matches.

Wilander will play Becker in the first match today, while Stefan Edberg will meet Michael Westphal in the second.

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Usually, Edberg pairs with Anders Jarryd for Sweden in Davis Cup play. But with Jarryd out with the flu, Sweden went instead with a team that ranks among the top 10 in the world.

The West Germans were so badly outplayed in the second and third sets that many fans in the capacity crowd of 13,000 in the Olympic Hall started leaving long before the end.

With Sweden leading, 3-2, in the second set, Wilander and Nystrom reeled off 13 points in a row to take the set, 6-2, and completed a run of seven straight games while losing only two points to lead, 4-0, in the third.

Nystrom was in excellent form. His service returns left the West Germans constantly struggling to hold serve. Maurer held his service only once in the match.

“We thought before the match that we could break Maurer’s serve, but we didn’t expect to do it so often,” Wilander said.

Maurer, ranked 32nd in the world, conceded that the serve was the weakest point of his game. He lost five of his six serves.

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In the opening singles Friday, Wilander beat Westphal, 6-3, 6-4, 10-8, and Becker defeated Edberg, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 8-6.

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