BASEL, Switzerland -- As a tennis player, Patrick
McEnroe was not as successful as his brother John. But now he
has the chance to do a better job as a United States Davis Cup
captain.
Claiming "the future is now," Patrick McEnroe will rely on a
trio of young players and a Davis Cup veteran when he makes his
debut as U.S. captain Friday against Switzerland in the
best-of-five first-round tie.
Patrick McEnroe succeeded his brother as captain Dec. 13
after John's one-year reign ended abruptly with his resignation
Nov. 20. John McEnroe blamed problems with the scheduling
and format of the Davis Cup for his departure.
With Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras not making themselves
available for the first round, Patrick McEnroe's team will be
anchored by Australian Open quarterfinalist Todd Martin, a Davis
Cup player since 1994.
Jan-Michael Gambill, Justin Gimelstob and reigning world junior
champion Andy Roddick round out the squad as Patrick McEnroe
went with youth over experience for the first round, even
passing up on having his 41-year-old brother play doubles.
Martin and Gambill have been named to play the first two singles
matches on Friday. Martin will play Roger Federer and Gambill
has been matched against Michel Kratochvil.
In Saturday's doubles match, Gambill will team with Gimelstob
against Federer and Lorenzo Manta.
In Sunday's reverse singles, Gambill meets Federer and Martin
faces Kratochvil.
"We're looking to the future, having guys that are younger and
want to win down the road," Patrick McEnroe said. "Why not get
these guys in the mix? It is a chance to get them to play in
the spotlight of Davis Cup."
Martin, 30, defeated Sampras to reach the Australian Open
quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Agassi. He is
14-13 lifetime in Davis Cup competition, including 11-7 in
singles.
"Certainly having Todd (Martin) as our leader and playing so
great, it is great to have him as the leader of the team,"
Patrick McEnroe said.
Gambill has been a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team for the
last three years, compiling a 1-3 record in singles. The
23-year-old reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year.
Gimelstob, 24, will be making his second appearance for the U.S.
Davis Cup team after going winless in two matches in 1998. He
is coming off his best performance in doubles at a Grand Slam
event, reaching the semifinals with fellow American Scott
Humphries.
The U.S. has won a record 31 Davis Cup titles, but none since
1995. It lost to eventual champion Spain in last year's
semifinals.
Switzerland, which has never won the Davis Cup, will be led by
the 19-year-old Federer, who captured his first career ATP
title on Sunday at Milan.
The tie will be played on a greenset indoor surface. In their
only previous meeting, the U.S. defeated Switzerland, 3-1, in
the 1992 final.
Spain will begin defense of its title when it travels to the
Netherlands this weekend.
The Spanish team will be comprised of three-fourths of the team
that defeated Australia, 3-1, in the final last December. Davis
Cup hero Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alex Corretja and Juan Balcells
will be joined by former world No. 1 Carlos Moya, who is on the
Davis Cup team for the first time since 1999.
The Netherlands will be led by Sjeng Schalken, Jan Siemerink and
doubles specialist Paul Haarhuis. Richard Krajicek is out with
an elbow injury.
Olympic gold medalist Yevgeny Kafelnikov and U.S. Open champion
Marat Safin will lead Russia into battle at Slovakia.
In other first-round ties, Australia will host Ecuador; world
No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten will lead host Brazil against Morocco;
France will visit Belgium; Germany will host Romania and the
Czech Republic will visit Sweden.
|
|
ALSO SEE
U.S. Davis Cup team suffers growing pains
|
