1 Response to 1990daviscup

1. Voo de Mar says:

   November 21, 2014 at 9:34 pm

   The last Davis Cup final (without a European team) in history?

   USA d. Australia 3-2 in Sun Coast Dome, St Petersburg, FL, USA: Clay (Indoor)
   Andre Agassi (USA) d. Richard Fromberg (AUS) 4-6 6-2 4-6 6-2 6-4
   Michael Chang (USA) d. Darren Cahill (AUS) 6-2 7-6(4) 6-0
   Rick Leach / Jim Pugh (USA) d. Pat Cash / John Fitzgerald (AUS) 6-4 6-2 3-6 7-6(2)
   Darren Cahill (AUS) d. Andre Agassi (USA) 6-4 4-6 ret.
   Richard Fromberg (AUS) d. Michael Chang (USA) 7-5 2-6 6-3

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   NY Times (Robert Finn)

   In virtually every nation except the United States, Davis Cup tennis is an accepted symbol of sportsmanship, pride and patriotism; proof positive that teamwork within the sport described as a selfish one by its own practitioners is not an impossibility.
   When the United States, already ahead by 2-0 in the five-match series after singles victories by Andre Agassi and Michael Chang, defeated Australia in doubles Saturday afternoon and clinched its 29th Davis Cup, a quarter of Australia’s population was awake and watching television at 4 a.m. to see their team’s elimination. The impact of Davis Cup tennis, at least in Australia, is unquestioned. After the events of this weekend, the stock of United States Davis Cup tennis should, according to the United States Tennis Association president, David Markin, be unimpeachable. “This shows without dispute that American tennis has recovered to a very high standard in the world; five years ago the rest of the world was laughing at us because we didn’t have a player who could play on clay,” said Markin, who spearheaded a program that has pumped several million dollars each year into development programs to rectify that. “Here at Davis Cup we had one French Open champion and one French Open runner-up on our singles squad. But if we’d played on hardcourts, I think we still would have beaten them.”
   In addition to Chang, Agassi, Brad Gilbert, Aaron Krickstein, Jay Berger, and the doubles team of Rick Leach and Jim Pugh, all of whom contributed to the Davis Cup team’s march to the 1990 championship, Markin mentioned other U.S.T.A.-sponsored newcomers like Pete Sampras, the United States Open champion, and Jennifer Capriati as an indication of the United States’ resurgence of tennis talent.
   The United States clinched the Davis Cup title on Saturday, when the United States took a 3-0 lead and rendered today’s two singles matches little more than exhibitions. In the first match, Darren Cahill won by default after Agassi suffered a torn sternum muscle and retired with the match deadlocked, 6-4, 4-6. In the second, Chang was defeated, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, by Richard Fromberg, a 20-year-old clay-court specialist who took Agassi to five sets on Friday. Agassi, whose tendency to follow his own drum fosters criticism that his devotion to Davis Cup, and most everything else beyond his own best interests, was booed as he left the stadium. The injury, which he suffered as he served early in the second set, was diagnosed as a torn rectus muscle, which inhibits motion and makes breathing painful. Agassi, who may be sidelined for two weeks, said he intended to fly to El Paso on Monday to consult his physician. Cahill expressed skepticism over Agassi’s injury, which could prevent him from participating in the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, Germany, this month, an event Agassi contracted to play, pulled out of, and then re-entered only after being threatened with a lawsuit from the promoter as well as a fine and suspension from grand slam events by the International Tennis Federation. “You never know with Andre,” said Cahill, who admits to being rankled by Agassi’s nonconformity. “He’s a great tennis player but apart from his tennis, I think anything that comes out of his mouth is of very little significance. If he wasn’t injured today, then it was a disgrace.” ‘Back on the Map’ The United States last won a Davis Cup in 1982, defeating France on clay in John McEnroe’s heyday. “This Davis Cup win puts us back on the map, and may bring back clay in the U.S.,” said Tom Gorman, the squad’s captain for the last five years. “Now Sweden is started to be asked the same question we were asked four years ago, what’s happening to tennis in your country? Everybody goes through it. But it was McEnroe who brought Davis Cup back to the scene. Then he stopped playing and nobody took his place and we had to go through some doldrums. But now it’s back.” The victory may have solidified Gorman’s position as captain, which was rumored to be shaky over the past two seasons of disappointment. “If we didn’t fire him when he lost, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for us to fire him now,” Markin said, “but I need to hear it from him that he wants to be rehired before I can announce anything.” Gorman has yet to make his wishes known.
   

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