TENNIS ROUNDUP : Gorman’s Plan Includes McEnroe

John McEnroe’s place on the U.S. Davis Cup doubles team that will play Sweden next month was reaffirmed Wednesday by Tom Gorman, the U.S. captain, who wondered why it was ever an issue.

“Of course, John is part of the team,” Gorman said from his vacation home in Sun Valley, Ida. “I’m surprised there was any controversy about his position.”

McEnroe raised the question of his involvement Tuesday in New Haven, Conn.

Gorman pointed out that he named McEnroe to the doubles team in March after the United States defeated Czechoslovakia in a quarterfinal match at Ft. Myers, Fla.

At the time, Gorman also indicated that he would probably use Jim Courier and Pete Sampras to play the singles matches in the semifinal competition against Sweden at Minneapolis Sept. 25-27. Both players were formally named to the U.S. squad three weeks ago.

McEnroe’s doubles partner has not been named, but speculation centers on either Courier or Sampras, or possibly Rick Leach.

Boris Becker rediscovered his touch for a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow German Markus Zoecke at the U.S. Hardcourts in Indianapolis.

Playing his first hardcourt match since March, Becker got in 62% of his first serves.

“My serve worked extremely well, my forehand worked well, and I moved pretty well, but there’s room for improvement,” Becker said.

On the other hand, Pete Sampras was near perfect, losing only four points in the first set of a 39-minute, 6-0, 6-1 victory qualifier Stephane Sansoni 6-0, 6-1.

Top-seeded Jim Courier defeated Cedric Pioline of France, 6-4, 6-2; and No. 11 Jimmy Connors beat Simon Youl of Australia, 7-5, 6-4.

“I moved exceptionally well, which is one of my main concerns,” Connors said. “Playing like that, I can’t be critical of anything out there today.”

In a series of upsets, Marcos Ondruska of South Africa ousted No. 4-seeded Carlos Costa, 6-1, 6-3; qualifier Tommy Ho downed No. 7 Emilio Sanchez, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Brett Steven of New Zealand beat No. 8 Derrick Rostagno, 6-3, 6-3; Sandon Stolle of Australia defeated No. 9 Javier Sanchez of Spain, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-4, and David Engel of Sweden eliminated No. 16 Magnus Gustafsson, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

Mary Joe Fernandez celebrated her 21st birthday with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Pascale Paradis of France and advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open at Montreal.

“I didn’t want to lose on my birthday,” said Fernandez, the Australian Open finalist who has risen to No. 6 in world rankings. “With Pascale, you never know what to expect because she can make some unbelievable shots.”

In other matches, No. 2-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain swept Caroline Kuhlman, 6-1, 6-1; No. 4 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere beat Lisa Raymond, 6-2, 6-1; No. 6 Nathalie Tauziat of France defeated Helen Kelesi of Canada, 6-2, 6-4, and No. 9 Judith Wiesner of Austria eliminated Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden, 6-4, 7-5.

After being plagued by rain for three days, the Volvo International’s troubles continued at New Haven, Conn., when organizers canceled all day matches.

The last remaining first-round match was played at night, with Bryan Shelton defeating Patrick McEnroe, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).

The newly laid DecoTurf II surface on the center court crumbled after three days of rain and three singles matches. That court holds 15,000 spectators, and the organizers said they couldn’t fit all those fans into the side courts. As a result, they said they canceled the other day matches as a safety precaution.