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Yannich Noah, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi: 1990-1999 1990
Davis Cup tennis hadn't caught the native public's imagination as it had in Germany, Sweden, and Argentina, to name but a few. Dwight Davis may have had a wry smile on his face, as he watched the final from above. The Americans lay a red clay court, which wasn't exactly sporting behaviour and playing to the rules and won the first three rubbers with ease. Sports editors were more concerned with American Football and baseball, rather than cover the final, so it got relatively little coverage. 1991 Guy Forget and Henri Leconte were far too good for the Israelis and when Fabrice Santoro helped the French cause by beating an Australian side, they only had Yugoslavia to beat, without Goran Ivanisevic at the helm.
Noah realised that to face America and win he would have to select the talented Leconte and Forget combination, ahead of the ever impressive and reliable Santoro for the final. Gorman was not as shrewd as Noah and should have picked John McEnroe for the tie. Andre Agassi came back from losing the first set against Forget, to win with ease. Pete Sampras, at 20, had won the 1990 US Open, but readily admits he was not ready for the pressure cooker of a Davis Cup final. He lost to Leconte in straight sets to level the tie. Forget and Leconte then went to work on the experienced doubles pair Robert Seguso and Ken Flach, and with Noah all over them during the changeovers won 6-2 in the fourth. Two-one France. Forget knew this was his last chance. As a player who never fulfilled what his undoubted talent deserved, his battle against the young Sampras proved, that he had guts. Sampras had a title-packed career in front of him. At the time it didn't seem to matter his life was a glamorous blur. Sampras lost the first set on a tie-break but levelled in the second. Noah roared his player into action and Forget eventually tidied up the match, the tie and the Cup 6-4 in the fourth. Agassi had been expected to beat Leconte in the fifth rubber, but it was meaningless now as Leconte broke down in tears and Noah paraded the victors around the arena. The most poignant moment of all is saved for the end. Jean Borotra, sprightly but frail, aged 93, came up to Noah, clasping his hands, and said: "Thank you, thank you. I don't know how much longer I could have waited." 1992
American television coverage was once again a cause of justified disgust. One player commented that the semi-final battle between Sweden, featuring stars as big as Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi, did not receive any kind of television coverage. The choice of the final's venue was also called into question for not being held in a big media capital. The Davis Cup deserved better, and so did the team. Marc Rosset defeated Jim Courier on the opening day and when Sampras partnered John McEnroe for the doubles, the maestro inspired Sampras to use every drop of his talent to win 6-2 in the fifth. That was the crucial match and McEnroe felt wanted. That was to be his last Davis Cup match and one of the greatest exponents of the game left with a fantastic singles record of 41-8 and 18-2 in the doubles. He had served his country well, and although he may have caused offence along the way, the McEnroe era was a fantastic era for Davis Cup tennis. 1993 Stich aided by Carl-Uwe Steeb and the tall Marc Kevin Goellner, defeated The Soviet Union in Moscow, the Czechs in Halle and Sweden, including Edberg 5-0. Australia were to be their opponents, after Wally Masur and doubles specialist Mark Woodforde, had beaten a weakened American team consisting of Brad Gilbert and David Wheaton in the first round. They went onto beat Italy and India.
Ion Tiriac had become a promoter of enormous influence. He changed the Dusseldorf Trade Centre into a tennis complex. Richard Fromberg opened up for the Australians against Goellner, but the German won 9-7 in the fifth, having saved three match points on the opening day. This match also represented a change of rules, as the pair became the last to take a ten-minute break at the end of the third set in Davis Cup history. The tradition was abolished in 1994. The 'Woodies,' Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge could not prevent Stich and Patrik Kuhnen restoring the Germans lead in the doubles and on the final day Stich wrapped it up against Fromberg to win the Cup. Germany had won the Cup for the third time in its history and this time Becker had not been present. For Switzerland they had trodden on the relegation Zonal battle and lost! Gutsy performances by the Indians and Israelis saw the Swiss descend into the Zonal Groups. Neale Fraser having spent 23 years in the job of Australian captain stepped down. 1994 Kafelnikov had mastered the decisive victory against Germany in Hamburg, while final opponents Sweden had beaten France - whose match was marked by the death of Jean Borotra; only Rene Lacoste remained of the Four Musketeers now. They then beat the United States in the semi-final having been two rubbers down after the first day. Sweden won the opening day singles and doubles, taking the Cup home again for the fifth time in their history, but the final at the vast Olympic Stadium in Moscow, was rather dramatic. Edberg had to stave off match points against Alexander Volkov. Russian President Boris Yeltsin entered the arena surrounded by bodyguards in between a point and this caused a stir in the crowd and to Volkov's concentration. The Russian went down to Edberg's tactical brilliance 8-6 in the fifth.
Kafelnikov got stage fright against Magnus Larsson, who personified cool Swede mentality, reminiscent of the Bjorn Borg era. Kafelnikov managed only two games in the opening two sets, and did well to take the match to five before succumbing. The doubles could not have been closer as Kafelnikov and Andrei Olhovsky took the new ATP World Doubles Champions Jan Apell and Jonas Bjorkman to 8-6 in the fifth, before self-destructing. For the first time in the Cup's history a losing side had won six sets over the first three rubbers and still lost. 1995 Tom Gullikson, who replaced Gorman who had reigned for eight years, now captained the Americans. Pete Sampras was first up against Chesnokov - who had performed heroics in the Russians semi-final against Germany - and had to battle hard using every bit of his courage, skills and stamina to win 6-4 in the fifth set. So much so, that Sampras collapsed at the end of the match with cramps. Kafelnikov then beat Jim Courier in the second singles, but Todd Martin and Sampras won the doubles, then Sampras capped of one of his finest performances in the Stars and Stripes, by beating Kafelnikov in the fourth rubber in straight sets. 1996
Never before had a 'live' fifth rubber, entered the fifth set with the Cup resting on it. Thomas Enqvist had battled past Cedric Pioline 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 9-7, after the Frenchman had been two sets and 5-2 up in the third. Arnaud Boetsch's decisive 7-6, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 10-8 victory over Nicklas Kulti, kept everyone gasping for four hours and forty-eight minutes. Kulti had replaced the injured Edberg, after the charismatic Swede had lost against Pioline in the opening rubber. With Stefan Edberg missing it was left to the French to reclaim the Cup. This was meant to have been Edberg's final curtain call. After a career free of serious injuries, back problems never caused him to miss any of the record 54 consecutive Grand Slams he played.
Kulti had been confirmed as Edberg's replacement only minutes before the match was due to start. Edberg had had strapping applied to his ankle, but when on the insistence of his long-term coach Tony Pickard that he be tested in practice, 80% fitness was not good enough. Noah had won a Davis Cup final in the fifth set of the fifth rubber. Remembering Rene Lacoste who had died only weeks earlier, Noah remembered who's day it should have been. Stefan Edberg found himself hoisted onto the French captains shoulders and paraded for all to see, as the fine sportsman he was. 1997 Pete Sampras and Michael Chang - a player, who in 1989 won the French Open as a 17 year old, taking Wilander's mantle - his commitment to Davis Cup had also been questionable, finished Australia's run, in the semi-final. In the other semi-final Sweden, led by Bjorkman won 4-1 with a victory over the Italians.
So for the American team it was back to Gothenburg to meet the Swedes for the third time in four years. It was as close to embarrassing to the American 'dream team' loss of 1984… almost! Bjorkman had newfound fame as he beat Chang in the fourth, on the medium paced carpet at the Scandinavium. The new world number four had even been plastered on massive billboards ahead of the clash. Sampras, the world number one then injured his ankle, at a set-all against Magnus Larsson and failed to reappear the next day when doubles team Martin and Jonathon Stark went down to Bjorkman and Kulti. Sweden had won in two days. Sampras needed the assistance of crutches as he oined the celebrations. Captain Carl-Axel Hageskog, was a proud man, he had won Sweden's sixth Davis Cup in 11 final attempts. 1998 It was all too easy for the Swede's as they had at their disposal the multi-talented doubles combination Bjorkman and Kulti, who at the time headed the world doubles rankings and with Bjorkman at number four in the singles lists.
Magnus Norman, relatively new on the scene - who was to become number one in the world and around the same time date Martina Hingis briefly - battled through five gruelling sets against Andrea Gaudenzi, before the Italian retired at 6-6 in the fifth. David Sanguinneti never stood a chance against the tour veteran Magnus Gustafsson and got blown away 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 in front of a fervent Milan crowd. When Bjorkman and Kulti, disposed of Diego Nargiso and Sanguinetti, it was Sweden's seventh Davis Cup. They were now a force to be reckoned with. In the two remaining dead rubbers, Gustafsson beat 35-year-old Gianluca Pozzi and Norman went through the motions before losing to Nargiso. 1999 Britain then had to play South Africa to keep their place in the World Group and did so, against the Black brothers. But as one great nation returned another made to their way to yet another Davis Cup final.
Australian tennis hadn't been in better shape since the mid-seventies, when Neale Fraser made the most of Harry Hopman's last production line. Queenslander Rafter was the best of the bunch, with two US Open titles under his belt in 1997 and 1998. 'The Scud' Mark Philippoussis and relatively unknown Lleyton Hewitt, who defeated Agassi in the Adelaide Open final, as a raw 16-year-old, supported him. On paper, opponents France had the experience, and captain Guy Forget the tactical approach to defeat Australia's tactician John Newcombe. Australia had a 'dream team' of the same ilk as the USA 1984 Cup squad. For Arthur Ashe that year, conflicting personalities in the camp saw them lose. Newcombe wasn't about to make the same mistake. Undisputed world number one doubles team 'the Woodies' made hard work of Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro before winning 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 and gave Australia a crucial 2-1 lead going into the third day. Philippoussis had defeated Sebastian Grosjean comfortably and Cedric Pioline - 1997 Wimbledon finalist - had beaten the inexperienced Hewitt on the first day 7-6, 7-6, 7-5. But the youngster showed his talent and what was to come in the future. When Philippoussis swept aside Pioline with a game built around his serve and precision volleying Australia had the Cup, winning away from home in front of thousands at the Nice Acropolis. Hewitt lost to Grosjean in three sets, but little did the dead rubber matter. The Cup was going Down Under. |
