Around the World with Mr. Ed (December 2, 2000)
by Ed Toombs



As "Guga" Kuerten prepares to take his creaking body to the court in Lisbon for the Masters Cup final against the yet-again resurgent Andre Agassi, Australians and Spaniards prepare for the last major event of the tennis calendar (with apologies to the World Doubles Championships in Bangalore, to be played later this month). On an indoor clay surface in Barcelona, Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter, Mark Woodforde and Sandon Stolle will attempt to defend their Davis Cup crown against the home country, represente d by Alex Corretja, Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Juan Balcells. An intriguing duel is in the cards, with plenty of fascinating subtexts.

Santana stays home
For the grand final, the Spaniards were hoping to reunite the last Iberian squad to have contested a Davis Cup final, the 1967 edition. However, the most prominent player on that team, Manuel Santana, has refused the invitation.

"Manolo" Santana had been Spain's Davis Cup captain until last year, when he was deposed in a revolt by the top Spanish players and their coaches. The Spanish captaincy is currently shared by four men, all of whom coach leading Spanish players: Juan Bautista Avendaņo, Javier Duarte, Josep Perlas and Jordi Vilarķ. This quartet is commonly referred to by the Spanish media as the Gang of Four, or, in shorthand, G-4.

Santana is bitter to this day about his ouster, and says he has never had a satisfactory explanation for why the Spanish federation capitulated to the players who wanted to replace him with their coaches. To make matters worse, Manolo attended the first two Davis Cup ties, but says he was treated as a stranger by the Spanish officials.

Now, when they want Santana to attend the final in a show of national solidarity, the fiercely proud Manolo, author of four major titles and 92 Davis Cup wins in his storied career, is not about to give them the satisfaction. "What they did to me was like somebody stealing something from your house and then inviting you over to show you what they stole," he told The Independent. "That is why I will not be there."

It would be easy to say that Spain's appearance in the final validates the installation of the Gang of Four. Truth be told, 2000 has been one of those friendly-draw years for Spain, as all four of their ties have been at home on the friendly clay. In the past they have tended to falter on the road, when forced to play on fast surfaces by nations like Sweden.


Talkin' smack!
The war of words is heating up at the level of the players.

Alex Corretja, known for his gentlemanly respect for his opponents, fueled the fire by coming down hard on Lleyton Hewitt after his victory over the young Aussie last week in Lisbon. "I don't like the way he behaves," Corretja told the press after being angered by Hewitt's swearing and exaggerated fist-pumping. "It's not normal. It's good that a guy has motivation but sometimes I think he's doing it more for psychological reasons. All it did was to make me want to beat him badly." Corretja also revealed that his Spanish teammates don't care much for Hewitt either, and phoned Alex the night before the match, urging him to put the rambunctious Lleyton in his place.

I have watched Hewitt closely during his brief career, and have come to the conclusion that he plays well when he's pumping himself up, and doesn't play well when he's calm and businesslike. That's just the way he is. My conclusion is that he will have to be demonstrative in Barcelona in order to be successful, even if it gets the Spanish crowd on his back and motivates the Spaniards to "teach him a lesson".

Jimmy Connors, whose demeanour was not unlike that of Hewitt, was at his best when he felt it was him against the world. Does Hewitt have the same chutzpah to back up his arrogance right to the end?


The uncertainties
The clay court being employed in Spain would seem to work against the Aussies. But the fact that the tie is being disputed indoors takes some of the bite out of the clay advantage, as the Australians proved by winning last year's Davis Cup final on indoor clay in France.

Both Australian singles players have health issues that threaten to diminish their effectiveness. Lleyton Hewitt has been bothered by a mysterious allergy that has sapped his energy during the last four months. To make matters worse, Pat Rafter's shoulder, operated upon a year ago, has often let him down this year. Rafter has been practicing diligently on clay for the last two weeks, but reports indicate that his form has been inconsistent.

As for the Spaniards, Corretja, the squad's leader, will be asked to make a quick adjustment from carpets and hard courts to clay. And controversy is raging in Spain as to whether it might have not been more prudent to select former world #1 and French Open champion Carlos Moya, who has more experience in pressure matches, instead of the relatively untried Ferrero and Costa.

Despite his bitter disappointment at not being selected, Moya, unlike the great Santana, will be in Barcelona as a spectator. It remains to be seen if the Spaniards will wish they had called on him for a more active role in what promises to be a dandy close to the tennis year.


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