Australian Ire Raised by Clay for Davis Cup

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash heads the Australian squad that will challenge the United States in the upcoming Davis Cup finals from Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at the Florida Suncoast Dome, Aussie captain Neale Fraser said Tuesday.

Darren Cahill, Wally Masur and Richard Fromberg complete the Australian squad.

Fraser and Cash were both highly critical the U.S. Tennis Assn.’s choice of a specially built, indoor red clay court for the finals and charged that Davis Cup rules were being violated by the surface selection.

“The rule is that the surface must be in general use in the country, but when you put down a red clay court in a baseball stadium I don’t consider that to be in general use,” Fraser said. “It is just mind-boggling to me that a country with their level of players and expertise would go to this length. We are delighted with the compliment,” Fraser said.

It is up to the host country to select the playing surface, and the USTA obviously feels that slow clay will give the United States its greatest advantage over the Australians, who have had most of their success on grass.

Andre Agassi and Michael Chang have been selected by captain Tom Gorman to play singles for the United States, and Rick Leach and Jim Pugh will play doubles.