|
CALLING
ALL PETES AND ANDRES
Analyzing
the
Davis Cup doubles debacle
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
The
last time the U.S. won a Davis Cup doubles match was in 1999,
when a
singles legend, Pete Sampras, backed up doubles specialist Alex
O’Brien and
they downed Aussies Mark Woodforde and Sandon Stolle.
Since that time, it’s been business as usual, which means
losing any time to any team anywhere.
Last weekend, the U.S. had a chance to right itself in notable
fashion, when
Wimbledon champs Jared Palmer and Don Johnson took the court against
the
sterling Indian team of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, the
reigning Roland
Garros kings. Sure, this was stiff test, but under what better
conditions
could the losing streak have been broken? The U.S. had already
taken a 2-0
lead and there was no way that either Andy Roddick or James Blake
was going
to lose their singles matches the next day. That means no pressure,
play
loose, swing away and secure your place as the 2002 U.S. doubles
team.
The result? A 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 loss.
 |
|
Ron
Cioffi
tennisreporters.net
|
"Pat
(McEnroe) believed in us and gave us this opportunity to prove
ourselves," said Johnson of the team captain. "We played
well. We lost to a great team."
Pat
Mac added, "I didn't so much as pick these guys. They picked
themselves with how well they played this year. So to me they
were our best team and I was proud that they were out there playing
and competing their tails off. And they played well. They just
got beat. Someone has to lose and the Indian team has shown why
they have won three Grand Slams."
Since
1992, the U.S. sports an appalling 9-16 doubles record, with the
now retired Patrick McEnroe and Richey Reneberg owning the best
record at 2-0 and Palmer/Reneberg runner-ups at 2-1. Other than
that, the only duo that own one-match winning record are teams
that featured a singles player, either Sampras, Todd Martin or
Jim Courier.
So
it’s now it’s back to the drawing board for McEnroe,
who must either take a chance on the still-Davis Cup green Bryans
Bros. or try his damnedest to convince Sampras and Martin to team
up. Martin will play under any circumstances but Pete says no,
never again.
"However,
Sampras has been known to change his mind and we would suspect
that if enough pressure is put on him to play, say, Pat Mac declares
2002 to be “Win-the-Davis-Cup back-again-year,” Pete
might play in spots. Call it an educated hunch.
BRYANS
ARE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
"The
Bryans were under serious consideration all year," Pat McEnroe
said. "They made strides in their doubles game all year and
they won four or five tournaments. What they have not done, which
I hope they can do in the near future, is play well in a big event.
They made the semis in Wimbledon, which is a good result, but
other than that, they have not won a Masters Series event or they
have not gotten to the finals of one or a Slam.
"To me, they have made a huge stride in the last year. If
they can make another stride in that direction, they are going
to play themselves onto the team. But at the same time, I'm certainly
not going to say that it's a lock that they are going to be there.
Every decision I'm going to have to make is based upon going with
the doubles team or going with a couple more singles guys for
that potential.
It
didn't hurt us in [the India] tie, but down the road, it's sort
of a decision you have to make with each match. Obviously, Bob
can play some good singles and has played some good singles and
I hope he continues to try to do that.
As
an aside, tennisreporters.net
guesses that Andre Agassi might listen to another overture about
playing Davis Cup again. Like Sampras, Agassi has also said it’s
time to leave it up to the young guys, but since the U.S. hasn’t
won the
crown since 1995 and it’s pretty obvious that as impressive
as James Blake
has been at times, he’ll never be another Agassi, why not
try to nudge the
dad-to-be into playing a few ties?
This
hair-brained theory about only going with guys that commit all
year is
virtually suicide for the U.S. team. Given the demanding ATP and
Grand Slam
schedule, no one should be asked to play every tie unless he wants
to. The
more reasoned approach would be to look at the next opponent,
see if Roddick
and Blake are capable of taking down their singles players, and
if not, call
on Agassi and Sampras.
For
example, if the U.S. draws Australia on grass, why not try to
convince
Agassi and Sampras to play Hewitt and Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis,
rather than hoping that A-Rod and T-Blake pull off a miracle?
Or if we happen to draw
France on clay, why not ask Agassi and [saints preserve him] Michael
Chang?
Why not try to bring the Cup back home before the U.S. legends
retire?
|
