Davis Cup ties kick off worldwide

Davis Cup ties kick off worldwide

JAKARTA (Agencies): Indonesia is ready for a revenge against
the Philippines when they start the first round of the Asia
Oceania Zone Group II Davis Cup tie at Rizal Memorial Tennis
Center on Friday.

Indonesian Suwandi will meet Johnny Arcilla in the first
singles match while Febi Widhiyanto will fight former Filipino's
double player Adelo Abadia in the second match.

Indonesia's duo of Edy Kusdaryanto and Hendri Susilo Pramono
will challenge doubles Pop Sabandon and Rolando Ruel, Jr. on
Saturday. On Sunday, Febi will play Arcilla while Suwandi is to
compete with Abadia.

Last April, the Philippines beat Indonesia 4-1 for the first
time during their five encounters here and earned the final berth
to fight for a place in Group I. Thailand was promoted to Group
I, while the Philippines remained in Group II.

World Group

In Harare, the world's top tennis player, Andre Agassi, said
on Wednesday he was ready to go all out in this weekend's World
Group Davis Cup tie in Harare against Zimbabwe.

He admitted the tie looked tougher now that Pete Sampras and
Todd Martin had pulled out with a hip injury and viral infection,
respectively.

But he paid tribute to Chris Woodruff as his new singles
partner, saying he was coming off a great Australian open where
he reached the quarterfinals.

Sampras lost to main rival Agassi in an epic five set
Australian Open semifinal last week.

Agassi said he felt a little tired after his exploits in
Melbourne where he won the Australian Open, beating world number
two Yevgeny Kafelnikov in four sets in the final.

"I will stick with what I know best, slugging it out from the
baseline, although spin variations and angles can be used to open
up the court," he told a news conference.

He expressed satisfaction with the surface at the Harare City
Sports Center which he said suited his game and the Dunlop TP
balls were hard enough.

In Zurich, Switzerland, Australian Davis Cup captain John
Newcombe has warned his players that it will be far harder for
them to retain the Davis Cup in 2000 than it was to win it last
year.

The Australians begin their title defense against crisis-torn
Switzerland on indoor green carpet here on Friday -- just two
months after they beat France in an emotional final in Nice.

As was the case throughout the 1999 campaign, Newcombe has
been forced to make changes to his line-up. Two-time U.S. Open
champion Pat Rafter is still unfit, while doubles duo Mark
Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge have retired from Cup competition.

Newcombe has again named teen ace Lleyton Hewitt -- winner of
two tournaments and 13 of his 14 matches this year -- and Mark
Philippoussis as his singles players with power-server Wayne
Arthurs and Sandon Stolle set to combine in the doubles despite
never having played together before.

Switzerland will be without their top-ranked player, Marc
Rosset, who walked out in a huff after the controversial
appointment of Czech-born Jakob Hlasek as captain.

Hlasek's team comprises Roger Federer, George Bastl, Lorenzo
Manta and Michel Kratochvil.

Slick lawn

In Ostrava, Czech Republic, the thick, red clay in the north
Moravian steel town of Ostrava is about as far removed as you can
get from the slick lawn of Wimbledon's Center Court.

And that's just the way the Czech Davis Cup team wants it
against Tim Henman and his compatriots.

Czech captain Jan Kukal has devised a "bog-down" strategy for
the Davis Cup world group first round clash, hauling tons of
earth inside Ostrava's main ice hockey arena and stocking up on
the heaviest balls allowable under the rules.

The tactics were introduced to counter Britain's two-pronged
serve-and-volley attack which has put Henman and Greg Rusedski
into the latter rounds of Grand Slam events in recent years.

But the task appears to have been made simpler by the absence
of Rusedski who is still out nursing a foot injury.

He will be replaced by either Jamie Delgado or Arvind Parmar
-- neither with much experience of top flight tennis.

Henman, who has made good progress on clay in recent years,
says that Britain still has a strong chance in Ostrava.

Kukal has selected Slava Dosedel and Jiri Novak for singles
duty -- the sometimes-brilliant Daniel Vacek had demanded a
guaranteed singles spot and was left out of the squad.

Doubles specialist David Rikl, who has had some success
against Henman, is expected to be paired with Novak for
Saturday's doubles against Henman and Neil Broad.

The Czech side have seen very little of their British
opponents.

Novak has lost both of his matches against Henman -- at last
year's French Open and Wimbledon 1998. Dosedel's only match
against a Briton came in the 1993 French Open, where he beat now-
retired Jeremy Bates in straight sets. (ivy)