TENNIS DAVIS CUP : Agassi, Sampras Sweep to 2-0 Lead

A hardcourt and some hard serves gave Andre Agassi a straight-set victory over Alberto Mancini and lifted the United States a 2-0 lead over Argentina in first-round Davis Cup play Friday.

Agassi didn’t have his serve broken by Mancini in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

In the day’s first match, Pete Sampras rebounded from a shaky start with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Martin Jaite.

The Americans have a chance to clinch the best-of-five series today when John McEnroe and Rick Leach face Javier Frana and Christian Miniussi in doubles.

Players battled wind gusting to 30 m.p.h. at the Mauna Lani Racquet Club. A power failure knocked out electricity to the club during the Sampras-Jaite match.

Agassi took advantage of Mancini’s inexperience and his own ability on a hard surface, keeping the Argentine on the defensive with hard serves that Mancini hit long or wide.

“The wind was bad for me,” Mancini said. “I hit with a topspin and that’s why I was slicing all the returns. Clay is my surface. I have much more confidence on that surface.”

Agassi said he also took advantage of Mancini by forcing him to hit with his backhand.

“He relies more on his forehand, so I tried to pressure his backhand, figuring it would lead to some free points, and it did,” Agassi said. “He likes to play on the baseline, and the conditions were too tough for that. If you waited for the ball it would beat you because of the wind.”

Agassi broke Mancini’s service in the third game of the first set, and converted several unforced errors into a fifth-game break in the second.

Agassi broke serve in the third game of the next set and held his own service to lead, 3-1, and signal the end for Mancini.

There may be bigger Davis Cup victories in Sampras’ future, but probably none so important as his defeat of Jaite.

Sampras lost two matches as the United States was beaten, 3-2, by France in the Davis Cup final in December. It looked as if a repeat was possible when Jaite won the first set.

The Argentine broke Sampras’ service in the first and ninth games, but the American got back into it by breaking Jaite to open the second set.

“I really didn’t play very good tennis,” Sampras said. “That first game of the second set was very important because I got some momentum.”

Jaite broke Sampras to lead, 3-1, in the final set, but Sampras broke back and tied it, 3-3, by forcing Jaite into two errors at deuce.

Sampras broke Jaite again to lead, 5-4, and served out the match by rallying from 0-40. An ace got him to match point, and he won it when Jaite hit a backhand wide.

“It was just a matter of getting to the net,” Sampras said. “I didn’t return the ball that well, but that had a lot to do with the wind. It just feels good to win.”