Britain Adds to Doubles Troubles for U.S. in Davis Cup

If Tom Gullikson, captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team, were to pinch a line from the Casey Stengel book of quotations, it would probably be: “Can’t anybody around here play this game?”

Gullikson could apply Stengel’s lament from the early days of the New York Mets to the game of doubles in tennis, the continuing debacle department for American teams, where the usual took place once more Saturday in the first round against Britain.

“BRITISH DISASTER,” shouted Saturday headlines across the country after Jim Courier stopped Tim Henman and Todd Martin whomped Greg Rusedski on Friday to establish a 2-0 U.S. lead in the best-of-five series.

Apart, Henman and Rusedski were tamable. Put them together, as occurred Saturday with 9,400 loyalists filling all the seats and howling all the way at the National Indoor Arena, and you had an enthralling five-set confrontation--but just the same old flop by yet another newly installed couple, Alex O’Brien and Martin.

Henman and Rusedski won, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, cutting the U.S. lead to 2-1, and looking so good that it’s reasonable they could reverse Friday’s singles results today. Only once before has Britain rebounded from 0-2--against Germany in 1930. The U.S. has thrice squandered 2-0 leads--in the 1939 final against Australia, the 1960 semifinals against Italy and against Sweden in 1994.

“It’s even money now,” said British Captain David Lloyd, “and we’re going to win. Henman and Rusedski are revived. I think Martin is tired. He looked it as the doubles went on, and three days may be too much for him.”

Martin disagreed, but his game, particularly volleying, unraveled after a strong first set. O’Brien, a Texan out of Amarillo and Stanford, was quick on the draw, far-ranging at the net, but Martin couldn’t keep up with him.

Though Courier had been announced as O’Brien’s partner Thursday, Gullikson rested him after his four hours-plus victory over Henman. Courier is the last hope in the fifth match if the crowd-rousing Henman defeats Martin in today’s opener.

“I feel fine, everything’s OK,” Martin said, but his tender abdominal muscles are suspect.

As he and O’Brien reported for duty on the slate blue hard court, they were the 12th combination tried by Gullikson during his six-year tenure. The captain seems a man searching for a four-leaf clover in a parking lot. His doubles teams’ match record: 7-10.

“It would be nice if two good Americans stuck together and played the circuit,” Gullikson said, “but it doesn’t happen anymore. Maybe the Bryan twins, Mike and Bob [1998 NCAA champions for Stanford], will be the answer in a year or so.”

Where have you gone, Smith and Lutz, McEnroe and Fleming, Flach and Seguso, Leach and Pugh?

“We played one great receiving game, that’s all--breaking Henman in the eighth game,” Martin said.

It was their lone service break.

Besides giving a recuperation day to Courier, Gullikson had a hunch about Martin. “Todd played so well in controlling Rusedski [6-4, 6-4, 6-2] that I thought we’d give him a recurring nightmare by seeing Todd out there again. It worked--for a set.”

Rusedski then awakened and, in the left court, complemented Henman superbly. Unbroken, Rusedski contributed 10 aces and eight service winners, permitted 14 points over 14 games. His dismayingly accurate returns were mostly chips. “I was going to dink and set it up for Tim, make him look good,” he said.