Samba Doesn’t Disturb a Winning U.S. Groove

The sun pounded down, and the sound of samba drums and jeers followed each mistake by an American player. It didn’t seem to matter--too much, anyway.

The United States took a 2-0 lead over Brazil after the first two singles matches Friday of their opening-round Davis Cup meeting.

In the first match, MaliVai Washington, the 24th-ranked player in the world, took 3 hours 10 minutes to defeat Gustavo Kuerten, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Jim Courier then needed 3 hours 50 minutes to defeat Fernando Meligeni, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Washington, 27, seemed nervous at the start, losing the first set when he was broken in the seventh game after a pair of double faults.

He struggled again in the second set, breaking Kuerten in the fourth only to lose the advantage in the next game. Washington went down a break in the ninth but rallied in the next game to square the set and then prevailed in the tiebreaker.

He continued to scramble in the third set, having trouble with Kuerten’s serve.

In the fourth, Washington finally seemed to find his game, breaking Kuerten in the eighth game and serving out for the match.

In the second match, a hotter sun and the jeering crowd began to take their toll as Courier lost the first set, 3-6, but he made a confident comeback in the second winning, 6-1.

He won the third easily, 6-4. But in the fourth, he served an apparent ace, only to be booed loudly by onlookers who thought it had gone wide. He appeared to lose his concentration and dropped the set, 4-6, forcing a fifth set, which he won, 6-4.

Later, Courier claimed the crowd didn’t bother him.

“I expected the vocal crowd. Fortunately, I like to play drums, so I kind of like what they were doing,” Courier said.

Today, Alex O’Brien and Richey Reneberg will represent the United States in doubles against Kuerten and Jaime Oncins.

In other first-round Davis Cup ties, Carlos Moya and Alberto Costa swept their first two singles matches for host Spain, humbling three-time Davis Cup winner Germany, represented by Marc Kevin Goellner and Hendrik Deekmann, at Palma de Mallorca.

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In a Davis Cup upset, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge swept to a straight-sets doubles victory today that lifted Australia past defending champion France, 3-0.