Agassi: Gorman Not a Leader : Tennis: U.S. Davis Cup team captain draws fire after questioning commitment of player.

Andre Agassi lashed out at Tom Gorman Thursday, calling the U.S. Davis Cup team captain narrow-minded and lacking in leadership.

“If he doesn’t change the way he’s handling things, it would be harmful to keep him in this position,” Agassi said. “I think he just wants for one week to live in the glory of it all and claim to be everybody’s coach.”

Agassi reacted strongly to comments made Wednesday by Gorman, who questioned Agassi’s commitment to Davis Cup after his sudden withdrawal from the U.S. squad that will play Czechoslovakia this month.

After accepting Gorman’s invitation last week to play in the next Davis Cup round, Agassi pulled out Tuesday, the day after the U.S. team was announced. Aaron Krickstein was named to replace him.

“(Gorman) makes me look like an idiot by saying he wondered about my commitment,” Agassi said. “That’s just noxious. That’s all there is to it.”

Stopping short of calling for Gorman’s ouster, Agassi said Gorman advocates a rigid code of conduct and has taken the fun out of playing Davis Cup matches.

“I’m really tired of being diplomatic about it,” Agassi said. “He tells you one thing and doesn’t have the guts to say the same thing to everyone. He’s a chameleon. It’s tough, because what you have, you’ve got a follower in a leader’s position.”

Agassi said he would not rule out playing on the U.S. Davis Cup team again with Gorman as captain, but that it is difficult to get enthusiastic about the year-long international competition.

“It’s sad that the whole country has to pay because of somebody who can’t make it easy for the players,” Agassi said.

When informed of Agassi’s comments, Gorman spoke in a conciliatory tone. He said he planned to meet with Agassi and discuss his complaints.

“I wish we could have talked today and I think this could have been avoided,” Gorman said.

Agassi, 19, a Davis Cup veteran of five matches, said he did not feel comfortable with Gorman’s rules that isolate the team at matches, because he often wanted to have his friends--many from his hometown of Las Vegas--watch practices or go to the movies with him.

Said Agassi: “Me eating dinner with Rick Leach and Jim Pugh is not going to make me play my matches better.”

”. . . I feel like, Tom, in my opinion, doesn’t have what it takes to get a team directed,” Agassi said. “I think that as long as he is the captain, it’s going to be tough for the players, that’s all there is to it.

“I just don’t think he does a good job.”

Boris Becker, whose serves are regularly measured in the 110 m.p.h. range, reached the quarterfinals of the Newsweek Champions Cup on the strength of one clocked at just 75 m.p.h.

Becker wasted five match points against clay-court specialist Horst Skoff before spinning in a slow-motion kick serve that the Austrian sent wide to end a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (11-9) marathon that lasted 2 hours 49 minutes.

Becker’s reasoning on his final serve?

“I was trying all kinds of different shots and serves and I hadn’t tried that one yet,” Becker said. “It worked.”

Skoff, ranked No. 20, applauded Becker’s cunning for sending him a changeup instead of a fastball.

“That was a good strategy because I was expecting a strong serve to my forward and he got me with a kick (serve) to my backhand,” Skoff said. “I think he is a great champion.”

Becker’s quarterfinal opponent is Jay Berger, who beat him here, 6-1, 6-1, in the third round last year. It remains Becker’s worst defeat.

Third-seeded Brad Gilbert was upset, 6-3, 6-3, by Spaniard Emilio Sanchez and cited unfamiliar surroundings. Gilbert said he wished he could have played a match on the Stadium Court before his third-round.

In the quarterfinals, Sanchez will meet Agassi, who had little trouble with Michiel Schapers of the Netherlands, 6-4, 7-5.

Jim Courier, who defeated Darren Cahill of Australia, 6-4, 6-2, will play fourth-seeded Krickstein, who ended Richey Reneberg’s upset streak with a 6-2, 6-4 victory. Reneberg had beaten both defending champion Miloslav Mecir and 13th-seeded Pete Sampras.

Courier said he will be facing a familiar style against Krickstein.

“It’s going to be like playing a mirror,” said Courier, who has reached his third quarterfinal in five tournaments.

Jan Gunarsson of Sweden defeated Jim Pugh, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, and will meet second-seeded Stefan Edberg in another quarterfinal. Edberg needed 58 minutes to defeat 19-year-old Spaniard Sergi Bruguera, 6-0, 6-3.