Russia Counting On Chesnokov and Clay : Tennis: Because Agassi is injured, the U.S. team is pinning its hopes on Sampras and Courier on the slow surface in Davis Cup final.

Andrei Chesnokov has been awarded the Order of Courage by Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin for his tennis heroics. But the Russian admits to “freezing up inside” when he thinks about the opponent he must play today.

Chesnokov, the world’s 90th-ranked singles player, will open the Davis Cup final--the climax of a tournament that involved 115 national teams--against top-ranked Pete Sampras of the United States.

But don’t count the Russians out. A number of factors--the slow clay court, Andre Agassi’s injury, the home-crowd advantage--give them a fighting chance to win the best-of-five series and their first title.

“The team understands that this is the only chance--maybe the last chance in history--to win the Davis Cup,” said Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who will play Jim Courier in today’s second match at Moscow’s indoor Olympic Sports Complex.

Russian captain Anatoly Lepeshin called Thursday’s draw, which set the order of singles matchups, a good omen. It means that Chesnokov, 29, will also play Sunday’s fifth match, as he did in the September semifinal here against Germany.

Chesnokov, written off then as an over-the-hill player, became an instant national hero by saving nine match points and upsetting Michael Stich to take Russia to the final.

But the real difference in that series was a turgid clay court--mysteriously watered to mud on the eve of one match--that neutralized the Germans’ superior speed and service. It will be the same Russian strategy, the same dark red clay, against the speedier, harder-serving Americans.

Asked Thursday about his team’s chances, Courier quipped, “It depends on how much water [the court] gets tonight.”

Chesnokov said, “I see it as a 50-50 chance, despite the fact that we’re playing against a very strong team. Sampras is good on any surface, but we’ll have a much better chance against him on clay. If I played him on grass or a hard court, I would have no chance.”

Sampras was originally scheduled to play only doubles, leaving singles duty to Courier and Agassi, who are better on clay. But Agassi was sidelined by a pulled chest muscle and showed up in jeans and boots at Thursday’s practice, just to watch.

Agassi said the injury will sideline him until the Australian Open in January.

Sampras, who last competed on a lightning-fast court in Frankfurt, Germany, has adjusted slowly to the soft clay here. In practice Sunday and Monday, it cratered when he would push off a serve and stuck when he would slide.

But by midweek the Swedish company that laid the clay on the stadium’s concrete floor had firmed it up--too hard for the Russians’ taste but still too soft for the Americans.

“The court is still pretty slow, which isn’t great for me,” Sampras said. “When I play Andrei tomorrow, I need to stay aggressive and stay patient. He’s a tough player.”

Kafelnikov, ranked No. 6, is a slick shot maker capable of beating either American. He faces Sampras in Sunday’s fourth match, before Chesnokov meets No. 8 Courier.

Saturday’s doubles is a problem for U.S. captain Tom Gullikson. He plans to use Todd Martin and Richey Reneberg, who have never played together, against the well-oiled duo of Kafelnikov and Andrei Olhovskiy.

Gullikson has said he might switch to Sampras and Courier, who play well together. But that would mean three matches in three days for each.