TENNIS ROUNDUP : Davis Cup Semifinals Set, as Is Likely Controversy

This year’s Davis Cup semifinalists were established Monday, as was the likelihood of controversy between now and the time the four teams take the courts in Australia and Austria Sept. 21-23.

Argentina completed its victory over defending champion West Germany, when Alberto Mancini closed out his straight-set victory over Carl-Uwe Steeb. With the teams tied, 2-2, Mancini had taken a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 3-3 lead into Monday’s play, after darkness had postponed its finish Sunday. And, in only 25 minutes, Mancini won the last set, 6-4.

That put Argentina against Australia in a semifinal in Sydney; the winner of that to go against the United States-Austria winner in a yet to be determined Austrian city.

West Germany’s defeat also reflected badly on Boris Becker, who had led his team to the last two Davis Cup titles but who had decided not to play this year.

Three of Australia’s Davis Cup players--Wally Masur, Darren Cahill and John Fitzgerald--left immediately after the Davis Cup win over New Zealand to play in a doubles tournament in South Africa. That immediately stirred up a group called Australian Anti-Apartheid Movement, which may boycott the Argentina match.

Steffi Graf, the world’s top-ranking female player, who has been out of action since suffering a broken thumb in a skiing accident Feb. 6, will return to action next Monday in a tournament in Amelia Island, Fla.