Roddick Lifts U.S. Profile in Cup

Dominik Hrbaty, the local boy who made good in a very big way Friday by making U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick resemble a lost soul in the sands of the Sahara, pictured Sunday’s Davis Cup relegation series matches against the U.S. this way:

“With a day’s rest Karol [Kucera] comes back to beat Roddick too, and I’m in the fifth match against [Mardy] Fish, deciding everything. Everybody is nervous out of their minds.”

His brown eyes were gleaming in anticipation.

A compelling scenario, good for the home folks who packed the 4,200 seats in the National Tennis Center, except the fifth-match showdown never came, not in a meaningful form.

Kucera called in sick, so to speak. “I can’t play with the pain in my left leg,” he said. “I tried to practice, and it was no good. Pulled hamstring.”

End of the big hopes for little Slovakia in the Davis Cup.

Victory was all but assured for the United States as No. 70-ranked Karol Beck was trotted out in Kucera’s place and, with 16 aces, Roddick finished him off, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

That was the decisive third point in the best-of-five match relegation series, and the U.S. was spared the indignity of no chance to chase the Cup in the 16-nation World Group before 2005.

The final score was a 3-2 for the U.S. because Slovakia’s Michael Mertinak, another substitute -- since the disappointed Hrbaty was no longer needed -- defeated Fish in the useless fifth match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“We’re still alive, and I think we’ve got a good chance to win the Cup next year,” beamed U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe. He and his talented gang will learn the identity and locations of the obstacles of 2004 when the World Group draw is made in London on Thursday. The first round is scheduled for February, two weeks after the Australian Open.

McEnroe, completing his third year, got his first win on the road, the team ending a string of four losses in foreign lands: Spain in 2000; Switzerland in 2001; France in 2002 and Croatia seven months ago.

“One of the toughest things I’ve had to do was tell James Blake that I was benching him in favor of Fish,” McEnroe said. “James is a team man, and he took it well, practiced as hard as ever. We’ve got a solid doubles situation now with the Bryans [twins Mike and Bob], and our young guys are all improving and want to be part of this. Including Robby Ginepri and Taylor Dent.”

Said Roddick: “Davis Cup means a lot to me. Nothing will interfere. If I feel I need rest, some time off, I’ll cut down on other tournaments, but not Davis Cup.”

Never threatened, Roddick took a 3-0 lead against Beck, and 2-0 in the second set. Beck, a 21-year-old, has been described as the greatest player in the history of Zvolen, a town in southern Slovakia -- but nobody could name another. Forty-six minutes passed before Beck glimpsed a break point.

“I screwed up Friday,” Roddick said, “but I came out with a lot more energy today. I didn’t let that drummer in the crowd bother me this time. I just served right through the noise. I wanted to close this thing, get it over.”

Said Beck: “Andy was motivated a lot. With his serve he didn’t give me so much chances.”

Said McEnroe: “It was especially good to win on our worst surface, clay.”

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Australia and Spain advanced to the Davis Cup finals. At Melbourne, Australia, the hosts defeated Switzerland, 3-2, with Lleyton Hewitt getting the clinching victory in the fourth match of the best-of-five series. Hewitt rallied to beat Roger Federer, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-1.

At Malaga, Spain, the hosts beat Argentina, 3-2, when Carlos Moya defeated Gaston Gaudio, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, in the fifth match.

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In other Davis Cup relegation series, Austria beat Belgium, 3-2; Czech Republis beat Thailand, 4-1; Belarus beat Germany, 3-2; Netherlands swept India, 5-0; and Canada beat Brazil, 3-2.

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Times wire services contributed to this report.