Agassi Is Left Off U.S. Davis Cup Squad : Tennis: Chang, Krickstein to play singles, and Leach and Pugh will play doubles for match against Mexico.

Where’s Andre?

As far as Grand Slam events go, Andre Agassi doesn’t play the Australian Open and he doesn’t play Wimbledon. And after the U.S. team was announced Wednesday, Agassi doesn’t play Davis Cup either.

“I’m quite sure he does not consider this a slap in the face,” said Agassi’s agent, Bill Shelton of International Management Group.

In something of a surprise, Michael Chang and Aaron Krickstein will play singles, and Rick Leach and Jim Pugh will make their Davis Cup debut in doubles when the United States meets Mexico in a first-round match Feb. 2-4 at LaCosta.

Tom Gorman, captain of the U.S. team, said he told Agassi that other players deserved a chance.

“Our conversation is private, but I will tell you I told him that there were others playing a lot better, and this was their opportunity to play,” Gorman said.

The U.S. team represents a complete break from the past since none of the four players named to the squad played in this year’s quarterfinal victory over France or in the semifinal loss to West Germany--when Agassi lost twice in singles.

Boris Becker beat Agassi in a key match, coming from two sets down, as the West Germans defeated the United States, 3-2, at Munich in July. The defending Davis Cup champions entertain Sweden later this month at Stuttgart in a rematch of last year’s final.

The U.S. team defeated Paraguay, 5-0, and France, 5-0, before losing to West Germany.

Gorman said Chang and Krickstein are among seven Americans ranked in the top 13 who could have been chosen, but they were asked to play because their time had come--and it was the same with Leach and Pugh.

“There’s a little bit of looking with an eye to the future, too,” said Gorman, whose job of picking a team to play Mexico became slightly difficult because of (a) John McEnroe’s decision to sit this round out and (b) Agassi’s scattered play.

Gorman scouted the No. 4-ranked McEnroe, No. 5 Chang, No. 6 Gilbert, No. 7 Agassi and No. 8 Krickstein last week in New York during the Masters tournament, where Agassi drew more attention for the pink bicycling tights he wore beneath his shorts and his black-and-pink polished fingernail than he did with his tennis.

Agassi said then that he wanted to play in the Davis Cup, but his agent said Wednesday that Agassi is happy with the team that was chosen.

“I just talked to him and he sounded great to me,” Shelton said. “He’ll just spend his time getting ready for the tour.”

Krickstein, 22, last played in the Davis Cup in 1987, when the United States was beaten by Paraguay, 3-2. He lostthe deciding match to Victor Pecci. Krickstein wasn’t planning on playing against Mexico and had scheduled a heavy workload around Davis Cup time. He plays at Sydney and in the Australian Open at Melbourne, then in the Davis Cup and in an ATP tournament at Milan the following week.

“But it’s hard to say no to the Davis Cup,” said Krickstein, who speculated on why Gorman said no to Agassi.

“Maybe it’s just a thing to make him work harder, to get him going again; that he’s not just on the team if he doesn’t perform,” Krickstein said.

Chang, 17, played in his first Davis Cup last February against Paraguay and won both of his matches.

Should the United States defeat Mexico, the next round would be in Europe against either Czechoslovakia or Switzerland. Gorman said he may choose an entirely different team after the Mexican matches.

“After that, nobody is guaranteed,” Gorman said.

“I’ve told them all, the easiest thing in the world is a country where there are only four players to start with,” Gorman said. “There are no surprises there.”

For the U.S. team, the surprises began Wednesday.