Both Sides Draw on Confidence

Tennis is not immune to the poor-mouthing that attends pre-event news conferences in sports. Thursday’s Davis Cup Final draw ceremony offered the usual respectful assessment of opponents and humble predictions by both the U.S. and Swedish teams, but the convention’s veneer is thin.

Underneath the niceties, the Americans were characteristically boastful and the Swedes were unusually confident about their chances to win the coveted Davis Cup in competition that begins today at the Scandinavium.

The Americans will send out No. 1 Pete Sampras and No. 3 Michael Chang in singles and Sweden will counter with No. 4 Jonas Bjorkman and No. 25 Magnus Larsson in the best-of-five-set matches.

Today’s matches will pit Chang against Bjorkman, then Sampras against Larsson. Rankings are not often useful predictors of Davis Cup performance: Larsson has beaten Sampras twice this season and Chang lost to Bjorkman a week ago at the ATP finals.

One doubles match will be played Saturday, and the reverse singles will be Sunday. The first country to win three matches gets the trophy.

Every Davis Cup final since 1981 has featured either Sweden or the United States. Sweden, which has won seven Davis Cup titles, last won in 1994. The U.S. has won 31 titles, the last in 1995.

Despite the sub-freezing temperatures here and the usual difficulty in convincing players to participate, this is not a hardship posting for the U.S. players.

They are warmly ensconced in hotel suites owned by an American chain and can get doses of CNN and MTV if withdrawal sets in.

Since athletic teams travel on their stomachs, the players’ culinary needs have been well looked after.

The American team spent its holiday chowing down on the traditional Thanksgiving fare, thanks to the major effort by the chef the team brought from New York City. According to U.S. Tennis Assn. officials, only pre-shipped ingredients saved the cook a massive scrounging job.

“Try finding cranberries and canned pumpkin here,” one official said.

The holiday’s over, starting with today’s matches.

Like Sampras, the tall, lumbering Larsson has a big serve, which will be amplified on the fast indoor carpet. He also has a decidedly un-Swedish outlook about facing the top player in the world.

“I know I can beat him in tough matches, which I’ve done,” said Larsson, who is 3-6 against Sampras. “He knows he can lose to me if he doesn’t play 100%. I have a chance. I came here to take it.”

Sampras may not be comfortable in Sweden’s frigid early winter, but he’s well acquainted with the pressure that comes with big matches and Davis Cup’s unique atmosphere.

“It took time to get used to it,” he said. “It’s just different out there, as far as the pressure. You’re playing for your country, you’re playing for your teammates. I’ve played enough Davis Cup over the past three or four years that I feel pretty comfortable out there.”

Meanwhile, this is Chang’s first Davis Cup final since 1990. He’s playing one of the fastest-improving players on the tour. Bjorkman began the year ranked No. 64 and finished it by getting to the semifinals of the U.S. Open, as did Chang. Chang has a 3-1 career record against Bjorkman.

Bjorkman also will team with regular partner Nicklas Kulti for Saturday’s doubles and, although Todd Martin and Jonathan Stark are scheduled to play for the U.S., Sampras is Martin’s probable partner, especially if Sweden has split the singles matches.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Davis Cup Final

U.S. vs. Sweden

* When: Today-Sunday

* Where: Goteborg, Sweden.