U.S. Gets a Special Delivery From Courier : Tennis: His defeat of Eltingh gives Americans 3-2 Davis Cup victory over the Netherlands after Krajicek upsets Sampras.

Jim Courier, rescuing the United States after a shocking loss by Pete Sampras, defeated Jacco Eltingh on Sunday in the deciding match of a Davis Cup quarterfinal against the Netherlands.

After Richard Krajicek defeated Sampras earlier in the day to keep the Dutch alive, Courier downed Eltingh, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, giving the United States a 3-2 victory in the best-of-five match competition.

“I didn’t think I’d have to play another live match,” Courier said. “But the bottom line is we got the job done.”

It was an especially satisfying victory for Courier, who has struggled this year.

“It doesn’t get any better than this for Jim Courier,” said Tom Gullikson, U.S. Davis Cup captain. “He’s well on his way back.”

The Americans will play Sweden in the semifinals Sept. 23-25. Sweden advanced with a 3-2 victory over France.

The other semifinal will match Russia against Germany, the defending champion. Germany downed Spain, 3-2, while Russia defeated the Czech Republic by the same score.

The United States took a 2-0 lead Friday with easy victories by Sampras and Courier. But the Netherlands evened it with a doubles victory Saturday and Krajicek’s 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 upset of Sampras, who is ranked No. 1 and this month won his second consecutive Wimbledon title.

That left it up to Courier and Eltingh to break the tie before a fiercely partisan crowd of 10,000 at a new hard-court complex next to the Rotterdam harbor.

Courier, a two-time French Open champion, won the first set in 30 minutes and took the second set by breaking Eltingh in the 10th game. On set point, Eltingh appeared to hit a winner, but Courier chased down the ball, stretched to hit a tremendous passing shot and then raised his arms in celebration.

“I thought everything was covered,” Eltingh said. “It was just a great shot.”

Eltingh came back to win the third set, but Courier dominated the final set.

After losing the first set against Sampras, Krajicek rallied to defeat the American in a battle of big servers.

“If I play well, I know I can beat anyone,” Krajicek said. “I proved that today.”

Sampras, coming off an emotional Wimbledon, appeared to suffer a letdown against Krajicek.

“I feel a little mentally fatigued,” he said. “I’ve played so many matches in the last month, it’s taking its toll.”

Dutch fans chanted “boring, boring, boring” after Sampras served aces, and they repeatedly held up play with “the wave.”

“The crowd was very hostile, but that’s the way Davis Cup should be,” Sampras said. “I expected that.”