Courier to Rescue: U.S. Stops Britain

BIRMINGHAM, England —  The United States and Great Britain were down to one set for the bundle because Greg Rusedski had run away with the fourth set in seven games.

Now, everybody in the crowd of 9,000 at the National Indoor Arena was screaming or blowing horns, and Jim Courier was smiling.

He was where he wanted to be, “the crowd into it, pulling for you to win or lose, the match on the line in the fifth set.” He lifted his sweaty shirt, tapped his chest and roared: “Nobody’s got a bigger heart than me!”

Courier showed it, all right, at the extreme limits of a Davis Cup series that the U.S. won from Great Britain, 3-2, Sunday.

The narrow victory that seemed almost like a dead heat set up a July quarterfinal in Boston against Australia.

Courier, who had led off Friday with a five-set victory over Britain’s best, No. 7 Tim Henman, and his antagonist Sunday, No. 11 Rusedski, stood way out on a tenuous limb: tail end of the fifth set of the fifth match of a best-of-five series.

Finally, it was the biggest server in the business, 6-foot-4 left-hander Rusedski, who gave way, losing his serve in the final game for a 6-4, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 1-6, 8-6 defeat.

Courier’s 3-hour 47-minute victory came after Henman gave a virtuoso shot-making performance, rising from a set and a break down (and a set point down in the fourth) to out-quick Todd Martin, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

That left it up to Courier, who has rescued the U.S. in similar situations twice before. The U.S. is 13-0 with Courier in the starting lineup.

Rusedski, who drilled Courier with 31 aces of up to 133 mph, never stopped coming at the American. “This loss hurts a lot more than my losing the U.S. Open final two years ago,” he said.

At 6-6, Courier banged a heavy serve to position himself for a forehand winner. Then a service winner gave him the lead, 7-6. In the last game, Rusedski opened with his 16th double-fault, for 0-15.

Courier was cool and serene in the final moments, winning the final three points, though he said: “I felt like a rowboat in the middle of the ocean with the fans, the crowd as the waves breaking around me.”

Not to mention the tidal wave, Rusedski.

“It was eerie,” Courier added. “I guess I got that nice ocean feeling from the book I was reading in the locker room while Todd [Martin] played. ‘The Perfect Storm.’ ”

Captain Gullikson liked the title. “It fits Jim.”

Davis Cup Notes

Elsewhere in Davis Cup play, defending champion Sweden lost to Slovakia, 3-2, at Trollhattan, Sweden, meaning both of last year’s finalists have been eliminated. Italy was ousted Saturday by Switzerland. Karol Kucera clinched it for Slovakia in the fourth match, defeating Thomas Enqvist, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. At Frankfurt, Germany, Russia advanced to a quarterfinal against Slovakia by rebounding from a 2-1 deficit to beat Germany, 3-2. At Gent, Belgium, the host team gained a quarterfinal berth against Switzerland by rallying from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Czech Republic, 3-2. At Lleida, Spain, Brazil advanced to a quarterfinal against France by eliminating Spain, 3-2, behind Gustavo Kuerten’s clinching victory over Carlos Moya, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. At Nimes, France, the French ousted the Netherlands, 4-1. At Harare, Zimbabwe, Australia knocked out Zimbabwe, 4-1, with Pat Rafter downing Byron Black, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, to clinch a quarterfinal berth against the U.S.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.