Leach, Pugh Make It a Wrap for U.S. : Davis Cup: Doubles victory gives Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Spain, setting up semifinal with Germany.

NEWPORT, R.I. —  Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang were right, even if they didn’t exactly endear themselves to the cause of American tennis in the process: The United States didn’t need them to beat Spain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

While the new American hit-makers declined invitations to play Davis Cup and instead spent their time in Europe preparing themselves for Wimbledon, their older compatriots played for mom, apple pie and the right to second-guess anybody skipping Davis Cup duty.

And did it quite nicely. All the U.S team required was the nice, smooth grass of the Newport Casino and International Hall of Fame and the nice, smooth strokes of the players who didn’t point to scheduling conflicts when captain Tom Gorman asked them to play.

The Spaniards, away from the clay, never had a chance and never won a set.

The doubles team of Rick Leach and Jim Pugh made it a 3-0 American lead Saturday with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory over the Spanish tandem of Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal, vaulting the U.S. team into the semifinals against Boris Becker and Germany. That match is scheduled for Sept. 20-22 at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena.

Saturday’s victory, coupled with the straight-set singles victories Friday by John McEnroe and Brad Gilbert, clinched the match for the United States, and reduced today’s singles matches to irrelevance.

Earlier, much had been made of the fact that America’s best four young players--and specifically Sampras, who is comfortable on grass--declined to participate in this round, leaving it to the older players to nudge the team into the semifinals.

They did, and now Gorman will probably turn to the younger players against Germany on a slower surface--possibly, ironically enough for the Spaniards, clay, to get Becker off his natural game. The surface, chosen by the United States, must be announced within 15 days from today. But Gorman didn’t want to think about who might show in September, he wanted to talk about what his veteran team accomplished this weekend.

“This certainly was the team to have on grass,” Gorman said, sounding a little tired of answering questions about all the no-thank-yous he heard leading up to this round. “And they showed it.”

Leach and Pugh, playing a doubles team they recognize as the second-best in the world, showed they could win every big point handed them. They broke the Spaniards only once in the match, but won the crucial points in the two tiebreakers and did not mess up when their chances came.

The biggest turnaround came late in the first set, with the Spanish pair playing sharply and up 5-4 with Leach serving at 15-30. Casal had an easy forehand volley to give Spain two break points for the set, but flubbed it. Leach held serve and the United States went on to win the set.

“Casal doesn’t miss many volleys,” Pugh said. “I think he just got a little excited or a little nervous and just missed it. It was an easy volley. And after that, I felt a little momentum going for us.”

Said Gorman: “I don’t know how we won the first set. Sergio misses a volley, and that basically is how we win the set.”

Leach and Pugh took the second set easily after breaking Sanchez in the sixth game, then won the match by dominating the tiebreaker in the third set.

“I figured our match would probably be the most difficult match,” Pugh said. “Sanchez and Casal are experienced playing doubles on grass, where maybe they weren’t comfortable playing singles on it.

“But after Brad and John played so well (Friday) and put us up 2-0, I felt relaxed.”

Now comes the interesting part. Leach and Pugh definitely will be a part of the semifinal U.S. team--they are undefeated in Davis Cup play. But who will accompany them?

Leach and Pugh, going out of their way to talk about the camaraderie Gilbert and especially McEnroe add to America’s Davis Cup campaign, said they wouldn’t mind it at all if either one was asked back for Kansas City.

“They come from the same school as us,” Leach said. “They come when they’re asked, and you’ve got to respect that.”

Said Pugh: “There’s a word that’s been running around, and it’s fellowship. The fellowship with these guys has been just great this week.”

But fellowship doesn’t necessarily beat Boris Becker most days, and Gorman knows that his best shot at beating the powerful German singles duo of Becker and Michael Stich is on a slower surface. Without McEnroe or Gilbert.

“I’m not at this moment absolutely sure what we’re going to do,” Gorman said. “We have options. We have to look at it objectively.”

Would it be hard to leave McEnroe behind, after Gorman has gone out of his way to praise him for his leadership and presence?

“This is going to be a very difficult decision,” Gorman said. “I have a special feeling for Mac and Brad, they’re a little older and I’ve been around them more. But on the other hand, with the younger players, I feel we’re building a good relationship.”