TENNIS / JULIE CART : Sampras Proves He’s Adept on All Surfaces

Pete Sampras has nothing left to prove, or give, regarding Davis Cup. With his heroic performance in the Davis Cup final last week, Sampras--a player who always has an eye fixed on his sport’s history books--has assured himself an honored place in them.

Fighting through injury and fatigue, Sampras became the first American since John McEnroe in 1982 to win three points in the Davis Cup finals. It is no discredit to his teammates to say that Sampras single-handedly won the Davis Cup for the United States. That effort in Moscow was so much his that it will no doubt help redefine the perception of Sampras as a tennis player.

His career has been variously defined by superb skills housed in a surprisingly fragile body and utter dominance on hard courts and grass and ineptitude on clay. He has been called emotionless, a robot, and--when he has balked at previous Davis Cup commitments--a selfish player.

Sampras’ steadfast participation in this year’s logistically impaired Davis Cup matches in Italy and Russia speaks of his perseverance in an event in which he’d had little success. Sampras lost against France in his first Davis Cup outing in 1991, was limited to only a doubles match against Switzerland the next year and he defaulted against Sweden last year. Sampras understands that in order to be viewed as a truly great player, he had to win at Davis Cup. Now he has.

Sampras knows, too, that a great player is adept on all surfaces. Little has bothered him as much as his failure on clay and at the French Open this year. After refashioning his entire schedule to prepare him for the French Open--the only Grand Slam event he has not won--Sampras was defeated in the first round.

“This will stay with me for a long time,” he said.

It did. Sampras lost a player’s most important weapon, confidence. Helping the U.S. team win the Davis Cup was great, but it meant more to Sampras that it was accomplished by beating clay specialists on his worst surface.

Sampras has said he would prefer not to play in next year’s first-round match against Mexico, which closely follows the Australian Open in February. Fair enough. He’s done his part and needs prove nothing else. Sampras’ presence in the later rounds is what counts, just as his absence against the weaker, earlier opponents, gives valuable Davis Cup experience to other players.

Which helps the next generation of Davis Cup players and the American cause overall. Can the American team do it again, this time with the addition of an uninjured Andre Agassi? Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson thinks so.

“As long as they are willing to be part of it and as long as they commit to it,” Gullikson said. “With the players that we’ve got in the United States, there’s no reason why we couldn’t dominate tennis for quite a few more years.”

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It should be the same thing for the American women in Fed Cup, but it isn’t. Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King watched as injury and illness devastated a strong team that lost to Spain in last month’s final.

The most sharply felt loss was an ankle injury that prevented Monica Seles from competing. According to King, Seles called every day to update her on the condition, which apparently puzzled doctors.

Once Seles became unavailable, King pressed Chanda Rubin into service. However, Rubin and teammate Lindsay Davenport both had back injuries.

“I began to think, ‘Who’s going to be healthy?’ ” King said.

Interestingly, the only U.S. player who was fully fit was Mary Joe Fernandez, whose career has been notoriously pitted with illness and injury.

Rubin served badly against Conchita Martinez on the first day, which concerned King because Rubin’s rising ranking directly corresponds to her improved serve. After the match, Davenport and King went to the practice court with Rubin and worked on her serve.

King praised Rubin and the entire team but lamented that the team lacked confidence.

“They didn’t think they could win,” she said. “After the matches, they all said, ‘Man, we could have won this thing.’ Too late. I think they are all committed to playing next year. That makes it easier, sort of. This job is never easy.”

Tennis Notes

World TeamTennis has revamped its schedule for next season, which will begin after the U.S. Open in September. John McEnroe has signed to play and Martina Navratilova will return for her seventh season. . . . Chris Evert and husband Andy Mill are expecting their third child in June. . . . The U.S. will play host to Mexico in the opening round of Davis Cup competition, Feb. 9-11 at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad.