Trouble Surfaces for U.S.
The United States sure could have used Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang or Andre Agassi in their Davis Cup semifinal against Italy on Friday.
Not to mention a faster surface.
Jan-Michael Gambill lost his Davis Cup debut to Andrea Gaudenzi and Todd Martin, the veteran American holdover, was upset by Davide Sanguinetti in three sets as Italy took a stunning 2-0 lead over the dazed Americans.
Gambill and Martin are both fast-court players, but the indoor court, a carpeted surface with a polyurethane coating known as “Plexi-pave Supreme,” played more like the clay courts the Italians grew up on.
“It was slow,” Sanguinetti said with a smile.
“He was playing a clay-court specialist and everybody thoughthe was going to win,” Gaudenzi said of Gambill.
U.S. captain Tom Gullikson was stumped.
“Maybe I would say put some water on it and then somehow freeze it,” he said. “Wisconsin is known for its cold weather. But the court is the court.”
And it played into the Italians’ strengths, producing long baseline rallies that made it harder for Martin to approach the net and sapping some of Gambill’s strong serves.
“We both lost to a couple of more or less counterpunchers and it shows that, one, they executed better than we did, and two, the conditions were a little bit slower than we would have liked,” Martin said.
No. 47-ranked Sanguinetti beat No. 28 Martin, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3, 7-6 (10-8), putting the Italians, who won all four tiebreakers, on the verge of a huge upset.
Martin, who struggled with his first serve and Sanguinetti’s consistent returns, and another Davis Cup rookie, Justin Gimelstob, take on Gaudenzi and Diego Nargiso in today’s doubles match.
Gaudenzi and Nargiso have seen 2-0 leads crumble before. They were on the team that lost to France in 1996 after winning the first two matches.
But the United States is 1-27 when down 2-0. The only time the Americans have overcome such a deficit in the Davis Cup was in 1934, when they rallied to defeat Australia in Britain.
The Americans have won 18 straight Davis Cup matches on home courts, the last loss in 1987 when Boris Becker led West Germany to a 3-2 victory in Hartford, Conn.
If they can avoid the sweep, the singles pairings are reversed on Sunday, and Gullikson said he had no plans to play the rusty Courier.
“I don’t like to second-guess myself,” Gullikson said.
Agassi, Sampras and Chang all decided against coming to Milwaukee, and Courier was withheld by Gullikson because he’s not match-ready with lingering muscle fatigue in his right biceps.
So the Americans had to turn to the next generation, and experience won Round 1.
“I was a little nervous and stupid,” Gambill, a 21-year-old from Spokane, Wash., said after losing to Gaudenzi in four sets at the Milwaukee Arena.
Italy’s top player, Gaudenzi didn’t allow the pressure or the partisan crowd of 6,000-plus to get to him.
“I’ve played five years in the Davis Cup. Obviously, he was more nervous than I was,” said Gaudenzi, who won 6-2, 0-6, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-4). “The first match in Davis Cup is difficult for anybody.”
In only his third Davis Cup tie and first outside Italy, Sanguinetti played with poise that matched his fortitude.
“Physically, I’m perfect right now,” Sanguinetti said. “I’m running and I never get tired. Tennis, when I’m running that way, is easy for me to play because I can cover the whole court.”
Gambill, who has risen from 227th to 50th in the world rankings after taking French Open champion Carlos Moya to a fifth-set tiebreaker in the U.S. Open, said this loss hurt a lot worse.
“I was playing for a lot more than myself,” said Gambill, who survived eight match points before succumbing in the second of the tiebreakers.
In the other semifinal, Thomas Johansson had a perfect Davis Cup debut on Friday night in Stockholm, beating Moya in three straight but tough sets to give Sweden a 2-0 lead in the semifinals against Spain.
Johansson beat Moya, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6), and Jonas Bjorkman opened by defeating Alex Corretja, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3.
“I haven’t played much better serve-and-volley tennis than this,” Bjorkman said.
Sweden can clinch the series today when Bjorkman and Nicklas Kulti play doubles against Javier Sanchez and Julian Alonso.
The Davis Cup final is Dec. 4-6.
Davis Cup
Italy vs. United States
1 p.m. today (delayed)
TV: ESPN2