Davis Cup : Krickstein Wins Opener in Five Sets

Aaron Krickstein defeated Paraguay’s Hugo Chapacu, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, Friday to give the United States a 1-0 lead in the first round of the Davis Cup at Asuncion, Paraguay .

In the second match, Jimmy Arias and Paraguay’s Victor Pecci each had won one set and were tied, 3-3, in the third when the match was suspended at midnight because the competitors failed to complete two matches in seven hours.

Pecci, 31, won the first set, 6-3, but Arias, 22, unleashing devastating forehand drives, won the second set, 6-4. The match will resume at 11 a.m. PST today, to be followed by the doubles match between Pecci and Francisco Gonzalez of Paraguay and Ken Flach and Robert Seguso of the United States.

At Barcelona, Spain, Boris Becker gave West Germany a 1-0 lead over Spain by beating Emilio Sanchez, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, in a match that lasted five hours. The second singles between Spaniard Sergio Casal and Eric Jelen was suspended during the third set at the request of both players because of darkness. The match was tied at one set apiece with Casal ahead, 4-2, in the third set.

Defending Davis Cup champion Australia and Yugoslavia tied, 1-1, at Adelaide, Australia. Pat Cash gave Australia a 1-0 lead by beating 19-year-old Bruno Oresar, 9-7, 6-4, 7-5, but Slobodan Zivojinovic pulled Yugoslavia even, defeating Wally Masur, 6-8, 8-6, 9-7, 12-10.

Paolo Cane surprised French Open finalist Pernfors, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, to give Italy a 1-0 lead over Sweden at Prato, Italy. Then Mats Wilander tied it, 1-1, by beating Simone Colombo, 6-2, 6-3, 6-0.

Israel gained a surprising 2-0 lead over Czechoslovakia at Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia, after Miloslav Mecir lost to Amos Mansdorf and injury forced Milan Srejber to retire in the fifth set against Shlomo Glickstein. Mansdorf won, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.