Swedes Complete Their U.S. Sweep

GOTEBORG, Sweden — Snow fell lightly overnight and blanketed this city in a pretty, white coverlet. Church bells pealed on a sleepy Sunday morning and everywhere Swedes in this prosperous city went about their business.

No doubt there are few in the U.S. Davis Cup delegation who will remember Goteborg with anything other than a shudder. Three times a highly touted U.S. team has come here and three times the trip has ended in frustration.

This one was the worst. The Swedes won, 5-0, humiliating a team that had No. 1 Pete Sampras and No. 3 Michael Chang. The last time the U.S. was swept in a Davis Cup final was in 1973 against Australia. The U.S. team here went from heavily favored to pitied.

Sunday’s matches at the Scandinavium were mercifully quick, having been reduced to best-of-three sets. Jonas Bjorkman got his third point for Sweden by defeating Jonathan Stark, 6-1, 6-1, in 47 minutes. Stark replaced Todd Martin, who suffered a flare-up of tendinitis in his elbow during practice Sunday morning.

Chang had much more serious intent but the same outcome. He lost to Magnus Larsson, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (6-8), 6-4.

A grim-faced American team accepted runner-up medals while trying not to look at the triumphant Swedes.

Sampras, who was expected to help the effort with three points from playing two singles matches and doubles, had none, and stayed in his hotel suite tending to the calf muscle he pulled in his opening singles match Friday. He was not at the arena Saturday or Sunday.

Sampras met with a delegation of reporters Saturday night and again made his points about the unbearable length of the tennis season and the difficulty of fitting Davis Cup in a hectic schedule.

“When you’re injured like this, and you look back on the year, it’s just too long,” he said, reclining on a couch, his left leg elevated. “This is not the way I wanted to end my year. I want to play this game for the next five or seven more years, hopefully, healthy. I’m going to be thinking about what I’m going to do next year, and as I get older, I’m going to play less.

“It’s December and we’re still playing tennis. That’s too much. For me, I just won’t play. If my ranking suffers, it suffers.”

Sampras said he believed the injury was the result of overwork. He is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks.

Sampras, 26, may well be tired, but in fact he has had one of his least-busy seasons. Sampras played 16 tournaments, while some players play 26 a year. This season, Sampras had 32 weeks off.

He bemoaned his travel schedule, which brought him to Europe four times in the last two months. Unlike many players, Sampras insists on flying back to Florida between tournaments. He was asked why he participates in the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, a non-tour event.

“Let’s put it this way,” Sampras said, laughing. “They made it worth my while to get on a plane to Munich.”

You could say that. Sampras made more than $2 million that week. A few weeks later he made $1.5 million in winning the ATP Finals. For his Davis Cup contributions this year, Sampras earned a minimum of $250,000.

As to his Davis Cup future, Sampras was evasive. It has been his policy to skip the first two rounds and play only the semifinal and final.

“My first priority is the Grand Slams,” Sampras said. “If Davis Cup fits in my schedule, it will fit in.”

It may be a moot point. The U.S. opens its Davis Cup campaign next year against Russia in April. Chang and Sampras are unlikely to participate.