U.S. Gets Its Man as Agassi Agrees to Play

The long and winding campaign to bring Andre Agassi back into the U.S. Davis Cup fold has finally paid off.

How long? It’s been nearly five years and two Grand Slam singles titles since Agassi last represented the United States in Davis Cup competition, playing in the quarterfinals against the Czech Republic at the Forum.

How winding? As recently as late last year, Agassi publicly dismissed the idea of joining the team for the final against Spain, speaking of his family obligations and indicating it was time for “the young guys.”

Behind the scenes, U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe spotted an opening, albeit a small one, and stayed on the case, phoning Agassi and speaking to him several times at the recent Australian Open. Support came from such team members as Andy Roddick and doubles stars Mike and Bob Bryan.

Official word of his return was released Monday by the U.S. Tennis Assn. Agassi will join Roddick and the Bryans to play in the first round against Croatia at the Home Depot Center in Carson, March 4-6. Taylor Dent of Huntington Beach will also be included in team activities.

McEnroe’s final push helped move Agassi. He flew to Las Vegas after the Australian Open to meet with Agassi and his coach, Darren Cahill. They went to one of the restaurants at the Bellagio and discussed the pros and cons for about 2 1/2 hours.

Agassi, who turns 35 in April, was not available for comment Monday but released a statement, indicating the thinking behind his decision. “Over the last few weeks, I have had several conversations with Patrick McEnroe and all of the members of the 2004 Davis Cup team,” he said. “As a result of those discussions and their unwavering support, I have decided to play Davis Cup in 2005.” His precise commitment for 2005 was imprecise.

“I would say we’re going to take it one match at a time,” McEnroe said in a conference call. “To be honest, it’s not just this match. It’s not every match. I think it’s a case-by-case situation.

“He’s not coming back simply to play in one match or to play because it happens to be the week before Indian Wells. At the same time, I didn’t ask him, ‘Are you going to play every match?’ I understand where he is in his career, personally, professionally, all the different things on his plate.”

In fact, Agassi had told McEnroe in Melbourne that if he had to commit on the spot there, he would have to say no. And before the dinner in Las Vegas, McEnroe said he thought the chances were less than 50-50.

“As I said to Andre, ‘Don’t cut off your options by saying it’s all or nothing, because to me it’s not,’ ” McEnroe said. “We’ve never had a year where we’ve had the same four guys every match. It’s too unrealistic for that to happen, with injuries, with different surfaces, with schedules, you name it.

“For him to make that decision, I just tried to convince him that to me that wasn’t a deal-breaker.”

The move is expected to spur ticket sales for what will be the first Davis Cup match at the Home Depot Center.

“It takes what I thought would be a great event and just elevates it to a marquee event for us,” said Bill Peterson, managing director of the Home Depot Center. “People will realize this is a great opportunity to see Andre in a big-time match, and how many more times [will there be] to be able to see him live?”

Said Arlen Kantarian, the USTA’s chief executive of professional tennis, “This says something about the unique character of the team Patrick McEnroe has built. [Agassi] has also been a great champion and a mentor to these other kids.... His return to Davis Cup is going to immediately elevate the profile of Davis Cup in the U.S. Importantly, it gets this team more fired up than it already is.”

Agassi has a 30-5 Davis Cup singles record. He will be looking to add to his two other successful Davis Cup runs, having been part of the winning teams in finals in 1990 and 1992. The last time the U.S. won the Davis Cup was in 1995, but Agassi did not play against Russia in the final. He did appear in the quarterfinal round that year.