Davis Cup Joy Doesn’t Runneth Over

Andre Agassi has nothing against Milwaukee.

Really.

But he was angered when he learned the United States would be playing Italy in the Davis Cup semifinals, Sept. 25-27, at Milwaukee. Agassi said he told captain Tom Gullikson that he could not make it because of a conflict with his foundation’s dinner on Sept. 26 in Las Vegas. Agassi said he could have played in San Diego, which was a finalist for the semifinal.

“It should be our say-so entirely,” Agassi said. “Instead of it being discussed, we read it in a news release that we’re going to Milwaukee and Gully is really pumped he gets to bring it to his home state [of Wisconsin].

”. . . God bless Milwaukee, but it’s still something they should discuss with the players.”

His feelings came out Friday at the Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA. There is a long list of problems with Davis Cup, he said. The discussion had started with his dislike of the meaningless singles matches played after the overall outcome has been decided.

Right now, the semifinal choice is the primary issue. As it turned out, Agassi wasn’t thrilled with Indianapolis for the quarterfinal match against Belgium.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Agassi, who also played against Russia in the first round at Atlanta. “You don’t have to be a genius to be a promoter. What kind of a promoter has 3,000 people show up in Indianapolis? It was terrible, the turnout. It was embarrassing.

“It was embarrassing for us, the American people, for the players. We’re hosting Belgium. Belgium has accomplished great things this year in Davis Cup and we bring them to America and we go to a place where there’s 3,000 people showing up. We have to block off seats with flags so it doesn’t look too bad.

“What can you do? Except play and hope they figure it out sooner or later.”

Barring a quick peace treaty, the semifinal match versus Italy will take place without Agassi. Pete Sampras has not played Davis Cup in 1998 and isn’t expected to change his mind about skipping this year.

“The USTA will do what they do and show up and want us to go have dinner with them and treat them nicely,” Agassi said.

”. . . Like any relationship in life, there has to be give and take and you have to be willing to make sacrifices on a lot of different levels. And I don’t see it being made. They make the adjustment of paying us a little more money; I’ve got news for you, I’m not going to play Davis Cup for a little extra money.”

IS THAT ANDRE GILBERT?

Suddenly, Agassi is sounding a lot like his coach, Brad Gilbert. They’ve been together since March 1994, and maybe it was simply a matter of time before Agassi’s speech patterns metamorphosed into Gilbert-speak.

He’s using words such as “props,” as in, proper due, and other phrases you might hear Gilbert, or “Beeg [his nickname],” using from time to time. Maybe Agassi is rubbing off on Gilbert.

Either way, it is no secret they are both big fans of Jan-Michael Gambill. Gilbert spotted Gambill playing at a winter indoor event in San Jose and started praising the game of the young American.

Agassi, who beat Gambill in the second round at UCLA, has been training with him this summer.

“He has his own style,” Agassi said. “You don’t see too many guys who can jack the ball like he can. You’ve got Byron Black, who’s more of a scrap iron, moves well and doesn’t really punish you with the ball but can take it early and beat you with his speed, discipline and fitness.”

Agassi paused and smiled and took the discussion in another direction.

“Jan-Mike is a big strong dude,” he said. “You know, if Dennis Rodman saw Jan-Michael without his shirt on, he’d want to put on a dress on and go out with him.”

WARTS AND ALL

For the last year or so, Sampras has had a wart on the bottom of his right foot--a truly annoying and sometimes painful condition. Finally, he had it removed July 15 and the wound was so deep he couldn’t do much, leading him to pull out of Los Angeles.

The foot did not trouble him on his way to his fifth Wimbledon title.

“After Wimbledon, when I started practicing on the hard courts, sweating down here in Florida, it was giving me some problems, pretty sore to play on,” he said.

“I felt it was best to get it removed, especially with all the tennis coming up.”

Sampras accepted a wild-card spot into this week’s tournament in Toronto, and then will play at Cincinnati and New Haven, Conn., before the U.S. Open.

In the weeks after Wimbledon, he was able to watch the tape of the final against Goran Ivanisevic and part of the semifinal against Tim Henman.

“One thing that really stands out in my mind, the ceremony after match, looking at Goran, I mean, he was very distraught,” Sampras said. “I felt bad for him. That stands out.

“As far as the tennis is concerned, you know, as a kid, you always kind of looked up to [Bjorn] Borg, [John] McEnroe, you always thought Borg’s five in a row would never be sniffed at, as far as someone trying to break it. I feel like five is a lot. So it is a little overwhelming to look at myself.”

TOP SHOT

The most exciting rally--and winner--during the Los Angeles event came in a first-round match between top-seeded Patrick Rafter and Ramon Delgado of Paraguay. Delgado, of course, was the guy who knocked Sampras out of the French Open in the second round.

It came on the first point of Delgado’s service game in the seventh game of the second set. Rafter and Delgado had been involved in a long baseline rally and Delgado finished the point by chasing a lob back to the baseline. With his back to the net, he flicked a shot between his legs and passed Rafter down the line.

The crowd gave them a standing ovation, and Rafter walked over to Delgado’s side of the net and shook his hand.

“It was too good,” Rafter said. “I guess you really don’t cover that, do you? Maybe by diving for it.”

DROP SHOTS

Web sites all over the world must have crashed into the abyss when the news came out Friday that Anna Kournikova, 17-year-old queen of the net, withdrew from the Toshiba Tennis Classic at La Costa, which starts Monday. Kournikova has been out of action since mid-June because of an injured right thumb. She suffered the injury during a quarterfinal win against Steffi Graf at Eastbourne, and is scheduled to appear in the Montreal event, starting Aug. 17.