Injuries Deplete U.S. Davis Cup Team

Tom Gullikson says putting together a Davis Cup team is always a “bit of a jigsaw puzzle.” But the U.S. captain thought he had most of the pieces in place for the April 4-6 quarterfinals against the Netherlands at the Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach. . . . until the events of the past few days shook his world.

Sure, Pete Sampras and Michael Chang had scheduling conflicts with a tournament in Hong Kong and were out of the picture, but the cupboard wasn’t exactly bare. There was Jim Courier, who came through with two crucial singles victories in the United States’ first-round victory in Brazil. There was Andre Agassi, who has won 14 consecutive Davis Cup singles matches in the last four years. There was Todd Martin, a top-notch singles player who is also an exceptional doubles player. And there was MaliVai Washington, who competed for the U.S. team in Brazil.

But then Washington, who had injured his left knee in Brazil, re-injured it during a tournament in Memphis last week. And Agassi, ranked 14th in the world, went down later in the same tournament, re-injuring the left ankle that had kept him from playing in Brazil.

And Gullikson got the crowning blow at midnight Monday when Martin called to say he was having arthroscopic elbow surgery Tuesday to remove a bone spur.

So, the Tuesday news conference at the Palisades, staged to announce the U.S. team, ended up with the announcement that Courier was in, Martin was out and everybody else is a maybe.

“Andre’s going to test the ankle in practice later this week and then he’s going to see if he can get enough matches in to build his confidence to the point where he feels he can help the team,” said Gullikson, who has until 10 days before the competition to announce the team.

If Agassi is unable to play, Washington is a possibility, depending on his rate of recovery.

The injury wave also might have washed away Gullikson’s plans for the doubles. He was leaning toward Rick Leach and Jonathan Stark, who make up the world’s second-ranked team, but he’s now considering Plan B. Alex O’Brien, who played the final singles match in Brazil when Washington was injured, and partner Richey Reneberg are again a possibility because both are ranked among the top 30 in singles.