Agassi Gets United States Even By Winning One for the Books

After Jim Courier’s disheartening five-set loss, Andre Agassi brightened the mood for the United States with a historic Davis Cup victory Saturday against Russia.

Agassi won his 16th consecutive Davis Cup singles match with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 rout of 18-year-old Russian Marat Safin, tying the American record for consecutive victories set by Bill Tilden from 1920-26.

“That’s a great accomplishment,” Agassi said after evening the best-of-five series. “I’m very proud of it. The Davis Cup has meant a lot to me and I’ve given a lot to it.”

Earlier, Yevgeny Kafelnikov rallied from a set down in a must-win match for the Russians to beat Courier, 6-2, 5-7, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4, on a cold, blustery day that had many fans at Stone Mountain’s International Tennis Center huddled under blankets.

Agassi needed only 1 hour 35 minutes to finish off Safin, the world’s 170th-ranked player and a Davis Cup rookie. The Russian had 50 unforced errors and seven double faults.

In the first singles match, Courier missed a chance to give the United States a commanding lead against the country it beat in a classic final three years ago in Moscow.

Kafelnikov won the 3-hour 42-minute match when Courier fell apart in the fifth set. Trailing, 5-4, Courier served to a 40-love lead before double-faulting, hitting two shots into the net and losing the deciding point when his forehand clipped the top of the net and landed about a foot wide of the line.

“I just got lucky that game,” said Kafelnikov, the world’s sixth-ranked singles player. “Basically, Jim lost the match. I didn’t win.”

Said Courier: “That’s a fair assessment.”

The U.S.-Russia tie began a day late after heavy rain Friday forced a postponement. That threw the schedule into turmoil, since the Russians are expected to use Kafelnikov and perhaps Safin in the doubles today.

They don’t have to announce their team until one hour before the morning match against Richey Reneberg and Todd Martin. If either of the singles players takes part in the doubles and the match goes at least 30 games--a strong possibility--the Russians could put off at least one of the reverse singles until Monday.

“If the doubles goes 30 games, they have intimated they will not play singles until Monday morning,” said Alan Mills, referee for the International Tennis Federation. “It’s a very complicated scenario.”

Kafelnikov, one of the world’s top 10 players in both singles and doubles, probably will need to play three matches for his country to win--especially after Safin’s dismal effort Saturday.

Agassi, meanwhile, continued his resurgence from a slump that left him with a No. 141 ranking in November. He is now 22nd.

Defending champion Sweden avoided elimination, as Magnus Larsson and Mikael Tillstrom defeated Slovakia’s Martin Hromec and Jan Kroslak, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, at Bratislava, Slovakia. Slovakia still leads, 2-1, after winning the opening singles Friday. Sweden must win both singles today to reach the second round.

Germany, meanwhile, with semi-retired Boris Becker winning in doubles, took an unbeatable 3-0 lead over South Africa at Bremen, Germany.

Australia’s top-ranked tennis player, Pat Rafter, withdrew from his final match in the Davis Cup tie against Zimbabwe at Mildura, Australia, because of a respiratory infection.

Mark Woodforde, a member of the doubles team that beat Zimbabwe to put Australia ahead 2-1 in the tie, will replace Rafter in the reverse singles against Wayne Black.