Sampras, Agassi, Flach-Seguso to Be Davis Cup Choices

Pete Sampras will make his Davis Cup debut when the United States plays France in the final, but John McEnroe isn’t going to be there.

Although the United States has not yet officially announced its team for the match at Lyon, France, Nov. 29-Dec. 1, captain Tom Gorman’s choices are eighth-ranked Andre Agassi, No. 7 Sampras and the doubles team of Ken Flach and Robert Seguso.

The announcement of the team is expected today from United States Tennis Assn. headquarters in New York. McEnroe, who has played and won more Davis Cup matches than any other American, was bypassed in favor of Sampras, one of the hottest players on the tour. Sampras has never played a match in the international competition.

Sampras is 48-16 this year but 32-7 since the end of July. He has won three titles and reached at least the quarterfinals in his last eight tournaments.

McEnroe, who fell to No. 26 in the rankings, might have played himself out of a spot on the U.S. team with an early-round loss last week in Paris on an indoor carpet surface. Sampras is 15-3 on carpet this year.

Flach and Seguso, 10-1 in Davis Cup, replace the doubles team of Scott Davis and David Pate, who lost to Germany in September in Kansas City. It will be Flach and Seguso’s first Davis Cup match since they lost to Germany in the 1989 semifinals.

The French team has not been announced. Neither team is required to be announced until 10 days before the event.