Davis Cup Final Out of Control, Australia Says

Australian tennis officials today accused the International Tennis Federation of losing control of the Davis Cup final between Australia and the United States.

Geoff Pollard, president of Tennis Australia, said the U.S. Tennis Assn. failed to adhere to an extended deadline for announcing the court surface for the final, to be held Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at St. Petersburg, Fla.

“The ITF granted the USTA an extension of seven days from Oct. 2 to Oct. 9, but the USTA has decided to take additional time,” Pollard said. “The only reason given is that the delay will assist in the promotion of the match.”

A spokesman for the USTA was not immediately available for comment.

Pollard contacted USTA President David Markin today after the deadline passed and said he was told that the USTA will announce the surface Thursday.

“They are waiting for team captain Tom Gorman to return from Japan and are prepared to meet any fine that may be imposed by the ITF for this breach of the regulations,” Pollard said. “Due to time differences we have been unable to contact the ITF, but it is quite clear that over this matter and the ongoing debate over starting times, the ITF has lost complete control of the Davis Cup final.”

The surface at the Suncoast Dome is expected to be red clay, similar to that used for the French Open. The Americans reached the final by beating Austria 3-2 on a clay surface in Vienna last month.

The best-of-5 final is turning into an acrimonious event, with Australia also complaining about the times for the singles and doubles.

The USTA wants to start the first singles at 5 p.m. EDT on the opening day, the doubles at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and the reverse singles at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The U.S. team will have a fresh doubles combination--the world No. 1 pair of Rick Leach and Jim Pugh--but Australia may want to use one of its singles players in the doubles. It is expected that Andre Agassi and Michael Chang will play singles for the United States.

Australian captain Neale Fraser said there would not be a sufficient break between the end of Friday’s singles competition and the start of the doubles.

The United States claims that the late start on the first day would give Americans a chance to watch the matches on television, but Fraser is upset.

“I will ensure something is in the rules after this,” he said.