It’s Time to Circle Dates for Davis Cup

Doesn’t it seem as though Davis Cup never ends?

It’s not a tournament, it’s a tour with no bounds, no finish line, no off-season. All Davis Cup, all the time.

The draw for 2000 was set before the 1999 competition was completed. Before the ’99 champion is crowned--either Australia or France, who meet in the final in December--we already know that the United States is headed to Zimbabwe for the first round next year.

And that Uzbekistan is playing China in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group I and that Paraguay is facing off against El Salvador in the American Zone Group II next year, desperately trying to avoid relegation to Group III in 2001.

It only seems as if Australian captain John Newcombe will have to fly directly with his team from the final in France to the first round in Switzerland. Not really, of course--there’s a Davis Cup tuneup tucked in there, sometimes known as the Australian Open.

But the bottomless schedule isn’t the Davis Cup’s biggest problem. Certainly, avid tennis followers knew there were a couple of intriguing Davis Cup matches in the semifinals, namely Russia at Australia. But the matches were played the same weekend as the Ryder Cup, rendering the tennis a non-event outside of Russia and Australia.

It has been suggested that tennis take a hint from golf and stage the Davis Cup every other year. But the significant amount of money the national federations receive from the competition will prevent that from happening.

“It’s pretty clear to most people we need to do something about the scheduling,” new U.S. Davis Cup captain John McEnroe said.

McEnroe suggested compressing the Davis Cup schedule, turning the competition into a one-month event during a high-interest period--such as late summer. With Davis Cup matches spread throughout the year, as they are now, it is difficult to build sustained interest, at least in the United States.

“People have thrown out different scenarios, but how about doing something where you did it all in a one-month period, because you are talking about four weeks?” he said. “Whatever month is chosen, I’d pick the month between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open because I think interest is heightened the most at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

“I think there would be a crescendo building for the Davis Cup and perhaps the U.S. Open.”

RECRUITING TRIP

The new captain hit the road late last month, traveling to Los Angeles, and made his pitch in person to one prospective client--Pete Sampras.

And now, Sampras said he is “leaning toward” joining the others for the Zimbabwe adventure, which means he’ll probably be in Harare in February. When Sampras doesn’t want to do something, he almost always says so immediately.

“I had some good talks with John,” Sampras said. “We not only talked about Davis Cup, but we talked about my career and the way he looks at me in tennis. There’s no question I want to be part of Davis Cup next year.

“Zimbabwe is obviously a very tough trip. I’ve got to sort out a few things in my head and make my decision over the next couple of weeks. There’s no question I want to be a part of it.

“It’s not 100% but I just want to be a part of it, and the commitment has to be there. Certainly, Andre [Agassi] is going and the other guys are willing to go.”

McEnroe isn’t the only American asking for changes in the Davis Cup.

“I was telling John the whole Davis Cup format should be changed,” Sampras said. “The scheduling . . . to go from Australia straight to Zimbabwe is insane. It’s a terrible schedule. It’s a tough schedule and that’s a lot of the reason why I haven’t played [Davis Cup] that much. It’s hard to stay No. 1 and play all the tournaments and play Davis Cup.

McEnroe and Sampras even hit a few tennis balls, and Sampras laughed when asked whether McEnroe asked him to play doubles with him in Davis Cup. Ultimately, Sampras wants to be part of great matches and historic occasions, including the first Davis Cup match for the United States in Africa.

BOAT OVERCROWDED

We know how close the Spanish players, fondly known as “the Armada,” are on the tour. But things got a little crazy recently when Spanish Davis Cup captain Manuel Santana was replaced by not one, but four captains.

Guess his sneakers were hard to fill.

Three of the four coaches are the personal trainers of the top Spanish players--Jose Perlas (Carlos Moya), Javier Duarte (Alex Corretja) and Jori Vilaro (Felix Mantilla).

File this under Disaster Waiting to Happen.

Imagine this happening in the United States. McEnroe assisted by the coaches of Agassi (Brad Gilbert), Sampras (Paul Annacone) and Todd Martin (Dean Goldfine).

Here, the biggest question would be whether Annacone or Goldfine could get in a word with the likes of Gilbert and McEnroe. At the very least, these would probably be the longest team meetings in history.

DROP SHOTS

* Mercedes-Benz will continue its sponsorship of the men’s ATP summer tournament at UCLA through 2001. The company has been the event’s title sponsor since 1997.

Additionally, the top-ranked Agassi is scheduled to play next year’s tournament, which is July 24-30. Agassi, who lost in the final this year to Sampras, won in 1998.

* Two more female players have announced plans to retire.

Doubles specialist Larisa Neiland, 33, of Latvia, said the Chase Championships underway in New York will be her final event. Neiland won the 1991 Wimbledon and 1989 French Open with Natasha Zvereva as well as four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

Also retiring is 35-year-old Manon Bollegraf of the Netherlands, according to Dutch media reports. Bollegraf won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, two with Rick Leach of Laguna Beach.