Sampras Void Leaves Them Buzzing

Tennis’ best player, perhaps of all time, won’t be taking the court for the United States today in the Davis Cup quarterfinals against Australia. Instead, six-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras will be preparing for his cameo role on Saturday, sizing up his walk-on doubles assignment.

Certainly, the fit didn’t look quite right--Sampras in the stands today at Longwood Cricket Club, cheering?--and team captain Tom Gullikson was hit with a barrage of questions about the curious move. Though Sampras is ranked No. 3 by the ATP computer, he is coming off an incredible performance at Wimbledon, crushing Andre Agassi in the final.

“It is our decision,” Gullikson said. “This is it. This is what we are going for. We all feel good about it. The players feel good about it. If other people don’t feel good about it, that is their problem.”

Australian captain John Newcombe was decidedly in the feel-good camp after he heard that Sampras and his 12 Grand Slam titles would be taking the day off. It was the first decent piece of news for the devastated Australian contingent.

Mark Philippoussis, who would be the second singles player behind Patrick Rafter, fell by the wayside when he injured his knee against Sampras at Wimbledon, and doubles specialist Todd Woodbridge was a late withdrawal, suffering from injury and a loss of confidence.

The first match today will feature American veteran Todd Martin vs. 18-year-old Lleyton Hewitt, making his Davis Cup debut for Australia, followed by Jim Courier vs. Rafter. Martin defeated Hewitt in January in their only meeting, and Rafter is 2-0 against Courier.

Sampras is scheduled to play with Alex O’Brien against Sandon Stolle and Mark Woodforde. The reverse singles will be Sunday. Changes can be made if a player is injured.

Newcombe, asked if he would bench Rafter under the same circumstances, acknowledged the opportunity for second-guessing the Sampras decision.

“No, I probably wouldn’t like to be in Gully’s shoes if we win either,” he said.

The winding, twisting tale of this historic Davis Cup tie has been something like a David Mamet play. Call it “House of (Net) Games.” There was squabbling over the location of the match. Normally, it would have been played in Australia, but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) decided long ago to play it at Longwood to celebrate the centennial year of the Davis Cup competition.

Briefly, the Aussies used the word “boycott,” but the threat never seemed serious. Then there was a battle over the surface (it is a slower hard court now), and lastly the Australians thought all the talk of Sampras only playing doubles, not singles, was subtle gamesmanship. Newcombe, going back to the French Open, had been preparing for the prospect of facing Sampras in singles.

“After what happened in England, I was planning on playing doubles and I wasn’t lying to everyone in this room,” Sampras said. “I wasn’t trying to pull your leg and say I was going to play doubles and come here and play singles, so I don’t understand the surprise.”

Sampras did not want to “jump on the bandwagon” after Martin and Courier defeated Britain, 3-2, in a thrilling first-round match. He did say he would feel comfortable playing singles in the semifinals if the United States advanced. The winner of this quarterfinal will play either Russia or Slovakia.

“Jim and Todd deserve to play singles [today],” said Sampras, playing his first Davis Cup match since the 1997 final. “They have shown, not only this year, but the past couple of years, their commitment to Davis Cup. And I haven’t been in the same boat. I didn’t feel it was right for me to kind of come on the team and play singles.”

Davis Cup at a Glance

UNITED STATES vs. AUSTRALIA

Quarterfinals

* When--Today-Sunday.

* Where--Longwood Cricket Club, Brookline, Mass.

* Schedule--Today, Todd Martin vs. Lleyton Hewitt, Jim Courier vs. Patrick Rafter. Saturday, Pete Sampras-Alex O’Brien vs. Mark Woodforde-Sandon Stolle. Sunday, Martin vs. Rafter, Courier vs. Hewitt.