Davis Cup Will Be Postponed

The U.S. Tennis Assn. is expected to announce today that the scheduled relegation match between India and the United States has been postponed until next month in response to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

It appears the matches could be moved to Oct. 12-14. The relegation round had been set for Sept. 21-23 at Winston-Salem, N.C. The matches are scheduled to remain in Winston-Salem. India’s No. 1 player, Leander Paes, lives in Orlando, Fla., but is in Bombay now. His doubles partner, Mahesh Bhupathi, lives in New York. One unresolved issue is that Paes and Bhupathi have commitments at the ATP stop in Vienna the week of Oct. 8-14, but the tour has shown flexibility and understanding in making necessary adjustments.

The American players are all in the country, but the move to reschedule was made out of respect to victims of the attacks. There were also significant travel, logistical and security concerns.

During the U.S. Open, U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe had named a six-player team of Andy Roddick, Todd Martin, James Blake, Robby Ginepri, Don Johnson and Jared Palmer.

McEnroe was to have trimmed the squad to four members but has been granted permission by the International Tennis Federation to delay the selection process. The winner of the relegation round will stay in the 2002 World Group, while the loser drops to zonal qualifying.

Separately, the ATP tournament in Bucharest, Romania, will halt today’s matches because of the events in New York and Washington, officials said. There will be no sporting events held in Romania today.