Agassi Joins U.S. Davis Cup Team
By Richard Pagliaro
02/08/2005
Steak and seafood were on the menu when Andre Agassi sat down with United States Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe for a two and half hour dinner at the Bellagio in Las Vegas last week.
By the time the desert cart rolled around, Agassi was already considering putting Davis Cup back on his plate while McEnroe was salivating at the prospect of an appetizing lineup featuring two former No. 1 singles players in Agassi and Andy Roddick and the former top-ranked doubles team of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.
Ending weeks of speculation surrounding his status for Davis Cup, the 34-year-old Agassi officially announced he will play the United States' opening-round Davis Cup tie against visiting Croatia, March 4-6th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Ending weeks of speculation surrounding his status for Davis Cup, the 34-year-old Agassi officially announced he will play the United States' opening-round Davis Cup tie against visiting Croatia, March 4-6th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
"Over the last few weeks, I have had several conversations with Patrick McEnroe and all the members of the 2004 Davis Cup team," Agassi said in a statement. "As a result of those discussions, and their unwavering support, I have decided to play Davis Cup in 2005. The captain and players know that my life will not allow me to play every tie at this stage of my career. Still, they all expressed encouragement which is very much appreciated. I look forward to joining the team in Carson, California in March."
In his 10-year Davis Cup career, Agassi has compiled a 30-5 record — which puts him in second place behind John McEnroe (59-10 overall, 41-8 in singles) for most American Davis Cup singles victories — and has helped lead the United States to two Davis Cup championships. Patrick McEnroe announced Agassi will join, Roddick, the Bryan brothers and Taylor Dent on the squad for the first-round tie. Agassi and Roddick are the expected singles starters.
"Obviously, the plan is to go with Roddick and Agassi," McEnroe told the media in a conference call Monday night. "I wouldn't term Taylor Dent a practice partner, I consider him part of the team. Certainly, the plan going in would be for Andre and Andy to play singles."
The collective applause emanating from USTA headquarters in White Plains will presumably be followed by continuous ringing at the Ticketmaster offices. Agassi's presence will undoubtedly drive ticket sales so fast even the speedy radar gun the USTA brings out to measure Roddick's record-setting serves at home Davis Cup ties will have trouble catching up. Tickets for the three-day series can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232 or online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets range from $90 to $375 for all three days of the tie.
McEnroe, Roddick, the Bryan brothers and Mardy Fish helped restore the roar to Davis Cup by leading the U.S. to its first Davis Cup final in a decade last December. Now Agassi, the man whose pride in playing for his country prompted his current teammates to dream of playing Davis Cup when they were kids, has caught the buzz back from the players he inspired so many years ago.
Agassi and McEnroe are good friends and each knows the other brings much more to the table than a healthy appetite and the resources to pick up the tab.
"I was lucky enough to be on a Davis Cup team with Andre. I can tell you from that experience that he's a leader. He's a natural leader. He's a guy that is so gung-ho," McEnroe said. "One of the reasons he didn't play Davis Cup, strikingly enough, was because he was so gung-ho about it, because he felt like he didn't have what it takes to give, is what he said numerous times. I'm extremely happy, not from just a front of it gives us a better chance to win, but because of his aura, because of what he brings to the table as a person, as a competitor. I think that will help Davis Cup in this country. I think that will help our younger players, in addition to what he does off the court, quite obviously makes it a bigger event."
Though Agassi did not commit to playing the complete Davis Cup schedule this season, it stands to reason he will seriously consider playing future ties should the United States continue to progress through the Davis Cup draw. Should the U.S. beat Croatia it could host Romania in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, July 15-17th, if Romania beats Belarus in its opening-round tie on red clay in Brasov.
Agassi has become so adept at the ongoing art of juggling his multiple demanding roles — as a husband, father of two small children, an active leader in the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation and as a competitor trying to squeeze out the best tennis he can in the final stages of a 20-year-career — he could earn a spot in the cast of Cirque de Soleil without even auditioning. But Agassi has always held Davis Cup close to his heart. Rather than approaching his Davis Cup return as an opportunity for a victory lap while carrying the stars and stripes it's likely Agassi may well join the team for an extended run this year though he can't publicly commit to it given his extensive off-court obligations and the fact that competing with a chronically hip, Agassi himself can't say for certain how his health will hold up throughout a given month let alone an entire season.
"I would say we're going to take it one match at a time," McEnroe said. "To be honest, it's just just this match. To be honest, it's not every match. I think it's a case-by-case situation. You know he's not coming back simply to play in one match or to play because it happens to be the week before Indian Wells. At the same time, I didn't ask him to say 'Are you going to play every match?' I understand where he is in his career, personally, professionally, all the different things on his plate. We will take it one step at a time."
The first step may be one of the most intriguing of this Davis Cup trip. The United States could be tested by a Croatian team that conquered the U.S. 4-1 in the 2003 opening-round tie played on carpet in Zagreb. An injured Roddick sat out that tie as Ivan Ljubicic accounted for three victories to lead Croatia against a United States squad that featured James Blake, Mardy Fish and Taylor Dent.
Given the fact Croatia boasts three of tennis' top servers in Ljubicic, Mario Ancic and six-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, you can understand why McEnroe was so adamant in his appeals to Agassi to play this tie.
"The fact is we have a tough first-round match against Croatia. They have two legitimate top 30 players," McEnroe said. "They beat us pretty good the last time we went over there. We're going to try to win this match and take it from there."
The third-ranked Roddick is 2-0 against Ancic, including a tight, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory in the Wimbledon semifinals last summer, and has won five of six meetings with Ljubicic. Agassi fought back from a two-set deficit to defeat Ancic, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the 2003 Roland Garros and has split his two meetings with Ljubicic though the pair have not played each other in nearly four years.
Speed is not the strong suit for Ancic or Ljubicic so look for McEnroe to select a slow hard-court that will enable Agassi and Roddick to exploit Croatia's lack of mobility. In addition to his immense Davis Cup success, Agassi has the ability to wear out opponents in forcing them to run a series of sprints laterally that can sap the strength of their legs and lungs and could tire out the two Croatians who could conceivably be asked to play three best-of-five set matches in three days.
The best-of-five set format in Davis Cup competition may have also served as an allure for Agassi as it can benefit him in his preparations for Grand Slam play.
"To be honest, that was another selling point I used for him about Davis Cup," McEnroe said. "I said 'Listen, I don't think it can hurt you to play a couple of big matches in Davis Cup, a couple of best-of-five set situations, to keep you sharp and to keep you ready when you get to that quarterfinal at a major and you're playing a Federer or Safin or Roddick or somebody like that.' Because maybe he's not getting enough of those matches, so I I think he listened to that."
It's likely Agassi also listened to his body. Almost two months removed from his 35th birthday, Agassi is routinely giving up 10 years and more in age to his top rivals in Grand Slams. While the Rebound Ace surface of the Australian Open still presents Agassi's best shot of reaching another major final, he is in the unique position of trying to train his body to peak for the Slams without straining it. Agassi often says his offseason workouts with long-time fitness guru Gil Reyes are about "training smarter, not necessarily longer" and in playing Davis Cup he not only gains the best-of-five set match play, but a week's worth of practice with Roddick and Dent, which benefits players on both sides of the net.
"When he goes out on the court to practice, he doesn't waste any time. He takes care of his business, and he takes care of his other responsibilities, which are big," McEnroe said. "Come up with another player that's had more sort of off-the-court stuff and sort of responsibilities to deal with in tennis than Andre. There aren't that many of them. He handles it all with a lot of class and professionalism, bringing that I think to our young guys, who obviously have done a great job in getting to where they are, but you can learn a lot from Andre."
McEnroe has been candid in voicing his disappointment at the struggles young American men — Fish, Dent and Robby Ginepri — have had in majors. The captain is hoping Agassi's professional approach to preparing for ties and tournaments will influence the younger players and fuel their competitive fire and even if it doesn't the team will still boast the best starting singles tandem in Davis Cup if Agassi and Roddick, who are good friends and play frequent exhibitions, play more future ties together.
"Andy's already spent some time with him, a lot more time I think in sort of the last year and a half. They've played some exhibitions together," McEnroe said. "They've practiced together. I know he's looking forward to having Andre there just sort of day in, day out, during the week of preparation to learn from him. And Andre is the kind of guy that can learn from other people, too. He's not past the point where he thinks that he knows it all. So I think it will be a two-way street. But certainly the Bryan boys have said a dream of theirs is to be on the same team at Andre Agassi. If that could make them any more pumped up for a Davis Cup match, I guess it will."
Agassi is to tennis what neon lights are to the strip in Vegas and his presence brightens a Davis Cup competition that had lost some of its luster as prominent players ranging from top-ranked Roger Federer to Tim Henman to Carlos Moya, who lead Spain to the Davis Cup championship in December, have all announced they will skip Davis Cup play in 2005 due to scheduling demands.