Emotions Run Low at Davis Cup : Tennis: U.S. faces France in first round, with Courier and Martin playing singles.

The last time France played the United States in the Davis Cup, Guy Forget stripped to his shorts and threw his clothes into the stands, a crying Yannick Noah was lifted in the air, fists clenched, and the French contingent formed a conga line around the court.

Their rematch this weekend is not expected to be quite so exciting. The reason? That was the 1991 final and the French had just pulled off a monumental upset, beating the Americans for their first title in 59 years.

This weekend, the teams are playing in the first round of World Group competition, the winner advancing and the loser being forced into relegation play in September.

Accordingly, only 3,500 are expected to attend each day at the 6,000-seat Bayfront Center Arena.

And the two top singles players in the world, Australian Open champion Andre Agassi and runner-up Pete Sampras, are skipping the three-day event altogether.

So when play begins today, Todd Martin of the United States will face Cedric Pioline. Jim Courier then will follow against Forget.

The doubles match will be played Saturday, Jared Palmer and Richey Reneberg of the United States against Forget and Olivier Delaitre, and reverse singles matches are scheduled Sunday.

Courier, who clinched the 1992 Davis Cup title for the United States, blamed the lack of excitement in the tournament’s early rounds on scheduling.

“I think this is a great event, worthy of a lot better scheduling than it gets,” he said. “I think players that get into the second week of the Australian Open are at a definite disadvantage to have to travel across the world to play in this tournament the next week.

“We’re all in the same boat as far as the schedule goes--no one really suffers more than anybody else--but we’re all suffering.”

Les Snyder, president of the U.S. Tennis Assn., said that he is trying to work with the Assn. of Tennis Professionals to achieve better scheduling for the Davis Cup, but it is difficult.

“Once you change one thing, that changes two or three things and then you have a domino effect,” Snyder said.

Courier, ranked 12th, reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, losing to Sampras. And Courier is on the rise lately, having won his first singles title in 17 months when he defeated Arnaud Boetsch, a member of the French team, in the final of an Australian Open tuneup at Adelaide last month.

No. 13 Martin was seeded eighth at the Australian Open but was upset by Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the round of 16. Tom Gullikson, U.S. Davis Cup team captain, expects Martin to bounce back, calling that loss simply “a bad day at the office.”

The U.S. doubles team of Palmer and Reneberg, on the other hand, had an outstanding time at the office in Melbourne, winning the doubles title.

As is typical for France, Forget, ranked 37th, will carry a big load, playing singles and doubles.

No. 50 Pioline is a familiar face to many Americans. In 1993, he upset then top-ranked Courier on his way to the U.S. Open final, where he lost to Sampras.

The United States, which has won 30 Davis Cup titles, suffered a first-round loss to Australia in 1993, then reached the semifinals last year before losing to Sweden.