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Wednesday, November 26, 1997

Davis Cup hasn't runneth over for Texas native

By Darryl Richards

Dallas Morning News

DALLAS - Davis Cup hasn't been the best of experiences for Alex O'Brien, but there is no place he would rather be than in Goteborg, Sweden, this weekend for the final between the United States and Sweden.

The United States seeks its 32nd title when Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Todd Martin and O'Brien meet the Swedes starting Friday. Sweden will counter with Jonas Bjorkman, Magnus Larsson, Thomas Enqvist and Nicklas Kulti.

O'Brien, an Amarillo native, has had mixed results at Davis Cup this year. He teamed with former SMU standout Richey Reneberg and lost the double point against the Brazilian team of Jaime Oncins and French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten. He later substituted for MaliVai Washington and beat Fernando Meligeni in the dead rubber match. O'Brien was on the team for the semifinal tie against Australia but did not play.

Although O'Brien is ranked seventh in the world in doubles and reached the semifinals of The Phoenix-ATP Tour World Doubles Championships last week, he wasn't a lock to make the team. Americans Rick Leach and Jonathan Stark played doubles most of the year and were ranked fifth in the world.

"I wasn't sure at all," O'Brien said. "I think Gully U.S. Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson had to decide who he wanted on the team. I'm kind of the rounding-off guy on the team."

There is a 50 percent chance O'Brien will play. Gullikson probably would opt for a doubles team of Sampras and Todd Martin, depending on how Sampras feels after playing singles Friday. If Sampras feels sluggish, Gullikson probably will pair Martin and O'Brien.

"I believe Gully wants the best team and if I can get out there and help the team, that's great," O'Brien said. "The last time Gully decided it was best I was not on the court, and I have no problem with that decision."

Tour looks at Dallas

Tennis legend Jimmy Connors, who played at the annual Merrill Lynch Shootout on Saturday at T Bar M, could be in Dallas for an extended stay if a deal for a Nuveen Tour tournament next year goes through.

Henry Brehm, executive producer of the Nuveen Tour, confirmed they are in final negotiations for a Dallas-area tournament. One possible site would be the Four Season Resort and Club in Las Colinas, which hosts the Virginia Slims Legends tour.

The Nuveen Tour is in its first year as a sanctioned ATP Tour event. Connors, who helped found the Nuveen Tour in the United States, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg are the top stars on the tour. The tournaments offer prize money of $120,000-$200,000, depending on the size of the draw.

USTA to change program

The USTA, in an effort to keep up with its foreign counterparts, made sweeping changes in its junior development program for next year.

Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson will be director of coaching for USA Tennis Player Development and Doug MacCurdy, director of development for the International Tennis Federation, will be the administrative director of the program.

The USTA will increase its budget for junior tennis from $2.2 million to $6.8 million. The USTA also has regionalized its approach to training, dividing the country into East, West, South and Midwest sections. Each section will have three national coaches. Previously, the players had to go to the USTA center in Key Biscayne, Fla., for top-flight coaching.

"The national coaches will be working with the best players in each region and will be working with all the coaches in the region to help them too," Gullikson said. "We're really going to try and cover the country a lot better rather than key on one or two spots in the country."

Briefly

The Arlington Tennis Center received one of five national grants for $8,000 from the USTA last week. The grant is to be used for the development of grass roots tennis....Richardson Berkner's Royce Ramey signed a letter of intent to play at Illinois.

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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