Davis Cup Roundup : Paraguay Upsets, Eliminates U.S.

Victor Pecci, upholding his reputation as a national tennis hero, trounced Aaron Krickstein 6-2, 8-6, 9-7 Sunday night, giving Paraguay a 3-2 upset over the United States in a Davis Cup World Group elimination tournament in Asuncion, Paraguay..

Pecci, 31, the best tennis player in Paraguayan history, notched his 20th Davis Cup victory by beating Krickstein, 19, of Grosse Pointe, Mich. Pecci has never lost a singles match in Asuncion. Paraguay will now face Spain in the quarterfinals.

Pecci outplayed the American, who was weak on his backhand, and out-maneuvered his opponent with drop shots.

The biggest upset of the tournament was Hugo Chapaco’s 6-4, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 9-7 victory earlier Sunday over Jimmy Arias of New York.

Jubilant Paraguayans, beating drums and banging tambourines, invaded the center court at the Paraguay Yacht and Golf Club after Chapacu’s victory, carrying the 24-year-old off the court on their shoulders.

Arias, a 22-year-old from New York, was knocked to the ground in the melee, but later got up, apparently unhurt, and congratulated Chapacu, a naturalized Paraguayan citizen who was born in the Argentine province of Missiones.

Paraguayan tennis officials almost had to carry the exhausted Chapacu to the official box where he was congratulated by President Alfredo Stroessner, who watched the 5-hour 22-minute contest. The final set alone in subtropical heat lasted 1 hour 44 minutes.

Arias sat dejectedly on the sidelines, comforted by U.S. Davis Cup Coach Tom Gorman and protected from the fans by several of his teammates.

Chapacu fought off three match points by Arias in the final set, got a second wind and made up in energy what he lacked in technique to corner his first Davis Cup win ever.

The Paraguayan won five straight games to take a 6-5 lead, but Arias was able to stem the surge with a winning service game even as several fans tossed bottle caps at him. Fans also threw pebbles onto the red clay court, but the match continued despite protests from U.S. team captain Tom Gorman.

Chapacu began chipping away with top-spin forehands and began used his quickness afoot to finally pull out the victory.

The match was marked by several turns, first with Chapacu rushing off to win the first two sets with little difficulty, at one point winning seven consecutive games.

Arias staged a comeback of his own from two sets down, fighting off match point in the third set and turning the match around with off-speed lobs and a slower tempo.

Trailing, 3-0 in the third set, Arias changed tempo suddenly and so did his fortunes. He knotted the match, 4-4, then survived match point at 4-5 and won three straight games to take the set, 7-5.

Arias rushed through the next set in 25 minutes to win, 6-3, and after six games of the final set seemed in total control.

The crowd, as it had on the two previous evenings, affected the U.S. team, and Gorman protested several times.

Fans hooted and coughed on Arias’s serve and yelled out on close calls.

In earlier matches, Krickstein topped Chapacu in five sets, Pecci defeated Arias in four sets and the U.S. doubles team of Robert Seguso and Ken Flach won in five sets over Pecci and Francisco Gonzalez.

At Adelaide, Australia, defending cupholder Australia clinched a quarterfinals berth after winning both reverse singles matches to defeat Yugoslavia, 4-1.

Wally Masur topped teen-ager Boris Oresar, 8-6, 6-2, 6-1, and Pat Cash took out Slobodan Zivojinovic, 6-8, 7-5, 6-0.

At New Delhi, Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan won their singles matches to bring India from behind for a 3-2 victory over Argentina.

Amritraj, his team’s captain, pulled India even with a 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 8-6, 6-2 victory over Martin Jaite. Then Krishnan overwhelmed 20-year-old Horatio de la Pena, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.

At Prato, Italy, Anders Jarryd defeated Simore Colombo, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, to lift second-seeded Sweden to a 3-2 victory over Italy. Italy’s Paolo Cane upset Sweden’s Mats Wilander, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, in the final singles match.

At Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia, Amos Mansdorf defeated Karel Novacek, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, to give Israel a surprising 3-2 victory over the Czechs.

Earlier in the day, Miloslav Mecir pulled Czechoslovakia even by downing Shlomo Glickstein, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.

In Marcq-en-Baroeul, France, Thierry Tulasne and Guy Forget of France completed a 5-0 romp over South Korean. Tulasne defeated Jin Sun-Yoo, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, and Forget beat Bong Soo-Kim, 6-4, 7-5.

At Mexico City, Jorge Lozano defeated Jeremy Bates, 6-3, 6-4, and Agustin Moreno upset Andrew Castle, 9-7, 6-1, as Mexico completed a 5-0 sweep of Britain.

The jubilant young Mexican team celebrated the sweep by leaping fully clothed into the swimming pool at the German Club in southern Mexico City, where the round was played.