Game, Set, Match for U.S.

With his uncanny sense of timing, Andre Agassi constructed the most dramatic scenario in which he might succeed. With the U.S. Davis Cup team holding a 2-1 lead over the Netherlands, winning Sunday’s first singles match would secure the victory for the U.S.

As a player, he seems to require internal drama to provoke himself. When it doesn’t exist, Agassi finds a way to create it. Falling behind two sets to none in a Davis Cup match is as provocative as it gets.

Always an instinctive and emotional player, Agassi thrived under the weight of the patriotic pressure. For only the second time in his career, Agassi came back from a 2-0 deficit to win a five-set match, and, with a flourish, clinched the victory for the U.S. team.

Agassi defeated Jan Siemerink, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, and extended his Davis Cup winning streak to 15.

Jonathan Stark subbed for a suddenly injured Jim Courier in the meaningless remaining singles match. Stark got his first Davis Cup win by beating Sjeng Schalken, 6-4, 6-0.

By a 4-1 score, the U.S. advances to the semifinals against Australia, which defeated the Czech Republic, 5-0. The matches will played in the United States on Sept. 19-21, and are expected to be played on the East Coast on slow hardcourts, possibly clay.

The last time the two nations played Davis Cup was in 1993, when Australia defeated the U.S., 4-1, in the first round.

The Australians will bring their best available team, which means Mark Philippoussis and Patrick Rafter if the match is on hardcourt. The Australians have the world’s best doubles team, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde.

The makeup of the U.S. team is unknown. If U.S. captain Tom Gullikson had access to the best American players, his team would be nearly invincible. However, when it comes time to commit to Davis Cup, Gullikson is looking at shallow talent pool.

Michael Chang, No. 3, is not likely to play and No. 1 Pete Sampras has not yet made himself available for Davis Cup. The next American in the rankings, Todd Martin, is recovering from surgery.

Courier and Agassi are likely to make up the singles team. The doubles team, always a problem, is unknown.

The crowd of 5,396 at the Palisades Tennis Club suddenly found its voice and engaged in rowdy vocal byplay with the inexhaustible Dutch fans. The tense atmosphere on court was offset by the festival going on in the stands.

The players seemed not to notice. Agassi is not yet in full command of his mercurial skills. Still, he called upon them in the third set and was able to lift his game.

Agassi charted a rough course for himself, given his record in five-set matches; he’s 12-12. But, as Courier did against Siemerink on Friday, Agassi came back.

Siemerink has the dubious distinction of having lost two matches here in which he held a two-set lead.

“I could feel that he stepped up to another level,” Siemerink said of Agassi’s play after the second set. “He lifted it up a little bit and I couldn’t. That is what made the change in the match and that is why he won it.”

As ever, Agassi’s sense of the moment was impeccable. He found his rhythm in the third set and broke the left-hander in the first game. Agassi broke again in the ninth game to win the set.

“When I broke him I felt like, ‘OK, now I am starting to fire on all cylinders,’ ” Agassi said. “I still had a long match ahead of me. At least I felt I could bring my game to the match and make him feel my presence out there.”

Agassi figured out Siemerink’s serve and began to rip his returns. When Siemerink, a serve and volleyer, presented himself at net, Agassi made the most of the target and passed.

Agassi’s play this season has been marginal, as witnessed by his rankings dive to No. 29. As he slowly reconstructs his game, Agassi will no doubt gain confidence from this weekend’s two victories.

“I can’t say enough about Andre, winning two matches this week, after being in a slump,” Gullikson said. “Just talking to him and looking in the eye, I really see that he is committed to really working hard and getting back to where he was. Or at least he is going to make an attempt to do that.”

* STILL ROLLING: Martina Hingis was within two swings of losing to Monica Seles, but she rallied and won the Family Circle championship. It was Hingis’ 31st consecutive victory and pushed her season’s winnings to more than $1.2 million. C8