Leach and Pugh Give U.S. an Edge : Tennis: Doubles victory puts Americans within one singles win of reaching the Davis Cup final.

Regaining the form that won them Wimbledon in July, the U.S. doubles team of Rick Leach and Jim Pugh survived a 92-minute rain delay, chilling cold and a crowd of 15,000 Austrians to give the United States a 2-1 lead going into the last two matches of a semifinal Davis Cup match against Austria.

Leach, a doubles stylist with quick hands and a soft touch, outdueled Austrian star Thomas Muster at the net to lead the U.S. pair to victory, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-0, 7-5, over Muster and teammate Alex Antonitsch in the best-of-five competition.

The victory means that the United States needs one singles victory from either Andre Agassi or Michael Chang today to guarantee its first appearance in the Davis Cup final since 1984. The winning team here will meet Australia, which clinched the other spot in the final by building a 3-0 lead Saturday against Argentina in Sydney, Australia.

Today’s matches on the red clay of Vienna still promise to be close. Agassi, ranked fourth in the world, must face Muster, ranked seventh and an outstanding clay-court competitor. Muster has a 2-1 edge in head-to-head competition against Agassi.

In the second match today, Chang, who lost in four sets to Muster Friday, faces clay-court specialist Horst Skoff, who last week won a tournament in Geneva, Switzerland.

If Agassi loses to Muster, the pressure from the home crowd in the converted soccer stadium will be intense for Chang, an 18-year-old from Orange County who has played only three Davis Cup matches.

In the rain-interrupted doubles match Saturday, the crowd tried to distract the Americans with soccer club chants and whistling. When Belgian umpire Raymond Dombrecht tried to quiet the crowd, they echoed his “sssshhhh” with their own, multiplied by 15,000.

Said Pugh, a Rancho Palos Verdes native: “They were doing everything they could to cheer against us. It’s not like we beat two people, it’s like we beat 15,000.”

Leach and Pugh said the match Saturday was their best on clay. It came after a series of mediocre performances since Wimbledon, including a defeat by two qualifiers at New Haven, Conn., and an opening-round loss at the U.S. Open to the unremarkable team of Nelson Aerts and Danilo Marcelino of Brazil.

Antonitsch said Laguna Beach’s Leach made the difference Saturday.

“In crucial points, Rick Leach was the best player on the court,” Antonitsch said, marveling over the American’s finesse at the net.

Pugh, however, could not be overlooked. He did not lose his serve in the four sets.

After pushing the Americans to a tiebreaker in the opening set and winning the second set, Muster and Antonitsch faltered in the opening game of the third set when they failed to convert a break point on Rick Leach’s service. The U.S. team proceeded to break the Austrians twice and breeze to a 6-0 victory.

In the fourth set, played in near darkness, the Americans gained a 5-4 lead after a rain delay.

Serving next, Antonitsch fell behind, 0-40, giving the Americans three match points. But he came up with three consecutive points, then survived another match point before lifting his team into a 5-5 tie that incited the crowd to a flag-waving frenzy.

The Americans took a 6-5 lead when Leach held his service after falling behind 0-30.

That put the pressure on Muster, who survived two more match points in his service game before Leach, taking advantage of a near collision between the Austrians at the net, smashed the ball between them to nail the victory.

If the Austrian crowd acted as if it was its last chance to be a factor, it’s because it nearly is. Even if the Austrians win today, they will not be host of the final. Instead they would travel to Australia, where the final is scheduled to be played at Melbourne’s enclosed National Tennis Centre on the Rebound Ace surface.

Further, Australian captain Neale Fraser said Saturday that he had discussions about the possibility of playing the final on grass courts.

Fraser said Australia wasn’t considering the grass surface to “pay back” Austria over dissatisfaction with the indoor clay surface encountered the last time the two Davis Cup teams met in Vienna in February, 1989.

“We would be looking at the surface that would be best for our chances to win,” Fraser said.