17 July 1999
American Win Doubles, But Australia Still 2-1 Ahead
Successful swinging of Pete Sampras and Alex O'Brien's tennis rackets kept the US alive in their Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against Australia Saturday afternoon with a 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory in the doubles rubber. With the US doubles delight, the score now stands at 2-1 for Australia with Patrick Rafter scheduled to face American Todd Martin in Sunday's first reverse singles, followed by Jim Courier taking on Australian rookie Lleyton Hewitt.
Much of a post match press conference by the US team and team captain Tom Gullikson, however, was focused on whether Sampras will be substituted for Martin. "I wouldn't rule it out," said US team captain Tom Gullikson when asked if there was any chance that Sampras, who ranks an unimpressive No. 778 in doubles, might bebrought in as a replacement.
Gullikson added, "Todd has been a medical marvel this whole year. He has been in two states since January -- first playing competitive matches and having the third or fourth best record on Tour, or rehabbing. He has not really been healthy all year and he manages to be able to win some matches. So, he had an assortment of problems."
The substitution would only be legal according to Davis Cup rules if a neutral physician confirmed Martin was either injured or sick. The problem with that scenario is that Martin was last seen out practicing late Saturday afternoon by Robert Lusetich, a reporter for "The Australian" newspaper.
Lusetich said he asked Martin about his health and the American said he was feeling fine. Following that meeting, Lusetich talked with Gullikson and reports the captain told him, "If Todd says he's 100 percent and ready to go, he'll probably play. But if he's dehydrated, or there's something wrong with his elbow, we'll have to look at it."
Since Sampras feels responsible for starting all the controversy by coming on board for the doubles and not singles, he made a point of defending Gullikson. "Tom is the only reason that I am here this week," Sampras said.
"Not only because I want to play more Davis Cup in the future, but after what we have been through together for the past five, six years (Gullikson's twin brother, Tim, who was Sampras's coach, died of a brain tumor a few years ago)."
"I am only going to play for Tom Gullikson and that is it." The three hour, 29 minute match was a hotly contested battle against the Aussie duo of Sandon Stolle and Mark Woodforde in extremely hot conditions. At one point during the day, an on-court thermometer hovered at the 129 Fahrenheit mark, which was only one degree from the top temperature the instrument would register.
Despite the less than desirable weather conditions, the match was an epic duel which kept the crowd riveted and enthusiastically cheering. Even the losing Australian team captain took note of the excitement the match generated.
"I think we had some tennis in the last half hour that was as good as you are ever going to see," Newcombe said. "Those rallies were unbelievable. First two sets one pair dominated -- the other pair was down a little bit. It swapped around the next two sets, then we went into the fifth. It is as good as you are going to get as a sporting spectacle."
Coming into the match, the Australians looked strong with two doubles specialists and knowing they had won the last 12 Davis Cup doubles matches since losing to the Russians in March 1994.
For the first two sets, the first time coupling of O'Brien and Sampras was sailing towards a potential straight set victory. But in the next two sets, the Australians, both consummate doubles impresarios, came on fire with scorching performances. "In the fourth (set), he was like, 'What are you guys doing out there, you guys look like a bunch of plumbers,'" Sampras reported of Gullikson's sage advice to the team.
Gullikson quickly jumped in saying, "No offense to the plumbers." Sending the match into a fifth set, the Americans had the advantage of serving first, which means if they continually held their serve, the Australians would always be playing the precarious catch-up position.
Surprisingly, it was the No. 17 ranked veteran Woodforde who put his team in the losing position by uncharacteristically serving three double faults in the 16-point eighth game. Ahead 30-0, Woodforde served two double faults to put the score at 30-30. Then on the fifth deuce in the game, he double-faulted again to give the American team a third opportunity to break serve. The No. 4 ranked Stolle made the error on the final point of that game, driving a backhand long on the run.
"Maybe I let my concentration just sort of change a little bit towards not trying to lose the game from 30-love," Woodforde said. "The two double faults came out of nowhere. It is not like my hands were shaking or it was a bad ball toss."
Sampras came into the press conference unable to recall much about that crucial eighth game, saying, "It is all kind of a blur to be honest with you. I am not sure exactly what happened."
The US still has an uphill road to win this tie, needing to win both singles rubbers Sunday. In the last 36 Davis Cup by NEC ties, the US has a winning 21-0 record when it wins the doubles point.