Berger, Gilbert Take Advantage : Davis Cup: It’s not easy, but U.S. grabs a 2-0 edge over Mexico. Leach-Pugh can finish it off today at La Costa.

Is it over yet?

It seems that the first day of a Davis Cup match that is supposed to last three days is sort of early to say it’s truly over, but Brad Gilbert said just that.

The United States took a 2-0 lead Friday night over underdog Mexico behind Gilbert and Jay Berger, which meant just one thing to Gilbert. As darkness descended on La Costa, Gilbert said the curtain had just descended on Mexico.

Has the U.S. won already?

“I think it’s pretty much a lock,” Gilbert said.

Doesn’t the Mexican team even have a small chance?

Pause.

“No.”

But what about diplomacy?

“That’s for the coaches. I’ll be bold. I thought in my mind we were gonna win, 5-0. Maybe Mexico thought it could win.

“Sometimes the rankings don’t matter, but we’re a little of the 49ers to their Denver.”

So there you have it. Gilbert, the No. 4 player in the world, played a near-perfect first two sets and a gritty third set to knock off 156th-ranked Leonardo Lavalle, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8), in 2 hours 18 minutes.

Gilbert’s victory followed Berger’s uphill 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, win over Jorge Lozano.

With a victory by Rick Leach and Jim Pugh in the doubles match today, the United States can clinch a victory over Mexico before the two singles matches are played Sunday.

Leach and Pugh are supposed to play the announced team of Lavalle and Lozano, although Mexican Coach Antonio Palafox has until one hour before the match to substitute. He has Agustin Moreno and Luis Herrera from which to choose.

In the first match, Berger answered this tennis question: Can a player ranked No. 11 lose to No. 348?

The answer is . . . well, No. 11 might think about it at least.

“I thought one time how it would feel if I lost a Davis Cup match,” Berger said. “Then I put it in the back of my mind.”

Lozano, who can be found 337 places lower than Berger on the computer rankings, took up a position at the net and volleyed his way to an early lead before Berger began finding the proper location to deposit his passing shots.

It took five minutes short of two hours to play the first two sets, which once appeared to belong to Lozano. But Berger, who trailed 4-1 in the second set after losing the first in a tiebreaker, got back to 4-4.

Berger sent a forehand passing shot point-blank at Lozano, who dumped his volley into the net to give Berger a break-point chance. When Lozano’s crosscourt backhand sailed wide, Berger led, 5-4, and he went on to serve an ace on set point.

Lozano’s double fault on Berger’s set point at 3-5 finished the third set in 37 minutes and Berger closed it out with a 34-minute fourth set.

When Lozano returned serve into the net on the second match point, a relieved Berger hit a ball into the stands.

Gilbert merely pumped his fist after dispatching Lavalle, who had beaten him in three of their four previous meetings. However, Gilbert is 2-0 against Lavalle in Davis Cup matches. He earned it the semi-hard way with a tough third set in which he fought off three set points by Lavalle that would have forced a fourth set.

Two set points came in the tiebreaker.

--Down 7-6, Gilbert took Lavalle’s net cord shot and hit a backhand winner.

--Down 8-7, Gilbert’s strong first serve caused Lavalle to return into the net.

Gilbert finished it off on the third match point with a stinging second serve return.

But Gilbert said he may have just been following instructions from his wife, Kim, who said something to him when he changed sides, down, 5-4.

“She said ‘It’s too cold, Brad. Finish this off,’ ” Gilbert said. “She didn’t want to watch another set.”

The Berger-Lozano match wasn’t even over and Mexico’s chances were already hanging by a string. Lozano led by a set and 4-2 in the second and then broke a string in his racket.

That is where Berger began his comeback, helped along by Lozano’s poorly strung rackets. Lozano went through two more rackets, but felt comfortable with neither one because they were strung too tightly.

Up until then, Lozano had been the aggressor, but one broken string apparently unnerved him.

“From then on, I struggled with my rackets,” he said. “I lost my concentration. Just a little thing like that can break your concentration. I’m not using it as an excuse.”

Possibly not, but it sounded like a novel explanation at the very least.

Berger won the next nine games and 10 of the next 12 and finished it after 3 hours and 6 minutes. The match ended a long break for the 23-year-old from Ft. Lauderdale, who hadn’t played a singles match since November.

Lozano’s problem was that he hadn’t either. Berger thought he might have gotten off to a slow start because he hasn’t played recently, but he also thought Lozano had something to do with it.

“Once I got into my game, I just kept getting better and better,” Berger said. “I don’t feel like I was playing horrendous or anything. I thought Jorge was playing real well.”