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Tennis briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 24, 2000

Fed Cup final: U.S. vs. Spain

LAS VEGAS -- The last time the United States played Spain in the Fed Cup, Lindsay Davenport couldn't help but cry as she watched her teammates go down to defeat in Madrid.

Davenport was supposed to be a part of that 1998 team, but she begged off the trip to Spain because it would have been too disruptive in a summer she capped off by winning the U.S. Open.

"I remember watching on television and was actually crying when they lost," Davenport said.

The world's No. 2-ranked player gets a chance to make up for a missed opportunity beginning today when she leads an American team seeking its 17th Fed Cup title into the two-day final against Spain.

"I do regret not playing, but I don't know if I would have won the U.S. Open and those other tournaments if I had," Davenport said.

Davenport didn't wait long to return to Fed Cup play. She helped the United States regain the Cup last year by beating Russia. Now, she and Monica Seles will try to defend it against a Spanish team that has been a Fed Cup power behind Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

Davenport plays Sanchez-Vicario and Seles plays Martinez in singles today. The two switch opponents Saturday. Then Davenport and Lisa Raymond are penciled in to take on Martinez and Sanchez-Vicario in the doubles match.

Davenport and Seles did the heavy work for the U.S. team in the semifinal Wednesday, beating a pair of Belgian teenagers to put the United States in the final.

Davenport's win over Kim Clijsters, 17, gave her a 24-2 mark since she began Fed Cup play in 1993. Seles is 11-1 in three Fed Cups, but more important, she is 18-1 against Martinez and 19-3 against Sanchez-Vicario in their careers.

Davenport is 7-4 against Sanchez-Vicario and has a losing record, 8-5, against Martinez. But Davenport has beaten Martinez the past three times they've played and Sanchez-Vicario the past two.

SAMSUNG OPEN: Goran Ivanisevic had to default Thursday during the final set against Hjung-Taik Lee because of "lack of appropriate equipment."

He had smashed all three rackets he brought to the match in Brighton, England.

"I can't remember anybody ever breaking all the rackets in their bag before," said Gerry Armstrong, ATP Tour supervisor. Ivanisevic will be fined $1,000 for code violations but will not be fined for the default.

"It is not a fineable offense ... only because he ran out of equipment," Armstrong said.

Ivanisevic returned to the court later with some new rackets to team up with countryman Ivan Ljubicic in the doubles, but he lost that match, too.

"At least when I've finished playing tennis they'll remember me for something," he said. "They'll say, "There's that guy who never won Wimbledon, but he smashed all his rackets.' "

In other matches, top seed Tim Henman beat Raemon Sluiter 7-5 (10-8), 6-1, and Renzo Furlan edged Paul Goldstein 7-5, 6-4.

STOCKHOLM OPEN: Top seed Magnus Norman and three other Swedes advanced to the quarterfinals in their homeland. Norman's opponent, Jan-Michael Gambill, withdrew because of a lower back injury. Norman advances to face No. 8 Sjeng Schalken. The other Swedes advancing were Andreas Vinciguerra, Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson.

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