Splashy Introduction Is Typical Newport

Only in Newport Beach could they stage the prelude to an international sporting event at a shopping mall and make it seem like a daily occurrence.

As master of ceremonies Vic Braden introduced Davis Cup participants from the United States and the Netherlands on the Atrium Park Lawn at Fashion Island, teenage girls and elderly women snapped pictures of their idol, Andre Agassi, curious shoppers took a break and players did their best to appear interested.

“It didn’t look like a shopping mall,” Netherlands player Paul Haarhuis said. “It was a nice crowd. There were some interesting people stopping by. It was nice. Different.”

Different and very Newport Beach.

“We looked at three or four different sites,” said Ken Stuart, director of Palisades Tennis Club, host site of the Davis Cup. “We picked it because of the parking. The proximity and the setting. It sets off Newport Beach. This is Newport Beach. This captures the essence of Newport Beach.”

But it didn’t capture everyone.

“However it comes out we have to accept it and go with it,” U.S. captain Tom Gullikson said. “You win and lose matches on the court, not in the draw ceremony.”

Maybe so but that didn’t matter to Richard and Marion Corp from Tustin.

“It’s a little commercial having it here, but that’s the U.S.A. today,” Richard Corp said. “We came to see Andre. I have a 64-year-old wife who’s in love with Andre Agassi.”

Said Marion Corp: “Andre has made tennis exciting for me. I didn’t follow it until he started playing. This is a great chance to see him up close.”

Stacy Trager of Laguna Beach was planning to do some lunch hour shopping at Bloomingdale’s, but she got sidetracked.

“We didn’t know this was going on, but we’re interested anyway,” Trager, 26, said. “We spent so much time here, we didn’t have time to shop.”

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Netherlands Coach Stanley Franker chose Sjeng Schalken and Jan Siemerink to play singles and Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis to play doubles. Eltingh and Haarhuis are ranked sixth in the world in doubles though there was some speculation that Haarhuis might play singles because of his Davis Cup singles experience.

“I wasn’t surprised,” said Haarhuis, who has played Davis Cup for seven years. “We’d talked about it. I haven’t played Agassi. The last time I played Courier was five years ago.”

Agassi drew the first match, at 11 a.m. today, and will play Schalken, whom he beat last year at Palm Springs in three sets.

“Schalken playing Andre, I really like that matchup for us,” Gullikson said. “Andre, his record speaks for itself in Davis Cup, and Schalken really hasn’t played a singles match in Davis Cup, or maybe only one. He’s got a little bit of inexperience which hopefully will lead to our advantage.”

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Courier said he was looking forward to playing before a friendly crowd. He still hasn’t recovered from the treatment he received from Brazilian fans in the first round back in February.

“I can only speculate, but it must be similar to what a football player experiences going into Oakland,” Courier said. “It was one of the most satisfying victories of my career and I hope I never have to go back to Brazil again, really. I will not go back unless I have to. That is as much hate as I have for what they did to us there.

“I don’t think that what went on there was a part of sports. They are insulting you and telling you that you are not getting out of their country alive and all this stuff. I don’t think we are going to have that problem here.”

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Today’s matches are sold out, but Davis Cup promoter Russ Cline said about 100 tickets are left for Saturday’s doubles match and for Sunday’s singles matches. The extra seats for Saturday and Sunday became available when the International Tennis Federation returned some of its tickets.