Just for Practice, Martin Helps Out U.S. Davis Cup

Naturally, tennis talk turned to basketball talk Monday, especially since the U.S. Davis Cup team was practicing for its weekend quarterfinal against the Czech Republic at the Great Western Forum, the old home of the Lakers.

“We’re going to try to be the Lakers this week,” captain John McEnroe said.

But you will understand if Todd Martin prefers to stay away from basketball analogies. After returning home from the Australian Open, Martin played some hoops with his coach, Dean Goldfine, and former tour player Aaron Krickstein. He sprained his left ankle and hasn’t played a tour event since.

Did the injury occur on some flashy take-it-to-the-hole move?

Martin owned up immediately.

“I landed on Dean’s foot,” he said.

So, we can’t blame it on Krickstein?

“No, Aaron was sitting out,” Martin reported.

Martin was in L.A., practicing with the Davis Cup team, but his ankle injury and a recently found genetic circulatory deficiency have almost made Martin the forgotten man of U.S. tennis in 2000. That’s unfortunate too, because he had an outstanding 1999.

He reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, then made it to the U.S. Open final. In New York, he lost to Andre Agassi in a gripping five-setter and went on to finish the year ranked No. 7.

Martin, who turns 30 in July, didn’t feel like himself when he started this season in Australia and was unable to travel to Zimbabwe for the first round of the Davis Cup. A series of tests finally turned up the circulatory deficiency.

Martin is combating it with salt pills and has stopped using a particular anti-inflammatory drug.

Now, he is concentrating on the ankle.

“It’s much better, not quite 100%,” he said. “It might not be quite 80%. It feels better every day. Right now, the only thing I’m struggling with is my strength, pushing off on it and then it’s probably a little bit of confidence, trusting that I can change directions on it and push off hard.

“I feel good going in one direction but not the other.”

He knew immediately that the injury was serious.

“This one was bad,” he said. “I’ve done it to my right foot before. This one looked really good. I thought I broke it for sure. It was huge right away.”

Martin is testing the ankle this week. If there is a significant improvement, he will return to the tour next week on clay at Atlanta.

It says a lot about Martin that he called McEnroe and offered to come to Los Angeles to practice with the team.

Monday, Martin played doubles with 17-year-old Andy Roddick against Alex O’Brien and Jared Palmer.

“This is great,” Martin said. “I missed out on Zimbabwe, and I really wanted to be part of the team in any way I can. Hopefully, I’ll have the chance to play eventually on the team. It’ll be good to see how the ship is run by [McEnroe]. It’s a great way for me to get back in the flow of things.”

The team also got some good news and a burst of energy from Agassi, who will be playing singles with Pete Sampras. Agassi showed up after noon and practiced for slightly more than an hour with Roddick. He was upbeat, teasing the youngster. After Agassi finished off a lively point with a volley, he shouted, “I’m like a freaking wall over here!”

This was his first practice since he hobbled off the court with an injured right ankle last week in Florida, so Agassi took a conservative approach. He hurt the ankle in the quarterfinals against Tim Henman and it clearly hampered him in his semifinal loss to Gustavo Kuerten at the Ericsson Open.

“I taped [the ankle] and it’s controlled out here,” Agassi said. “The one thing that’s different about practice and a match is that you have say-so in what you do and don’t run for. It felt great in everything I did. I think it’ll be fine.

“The tape helps. It’s a bit deceiving because it gives you the extra support you need. Worst-case scenario, it’s an option. It felt stable. I was doing everything I wanted to do today, as good as I could hope. I didn’t push it with my movement.”

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DAVIS CUP: UNITED STATES vs. CZECH REPUBLIC

* When: Friday-Sunday.

* Where: Great Western Forum.

* Round: Second.

* Teams: United States, singles: Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras; doubles: Alex O’Brien-Jared Palmer. Czech Republic, singles: Jiri Novak, Slava Dosedel; doubles: Martin Damm-David Rikl.

* TV: Friday: noon, ESPN; 3 p.m., ESPN2. Saturday: 2 p.m., ESPN (tape). Sunday: 2 p.m., ESPN (tape); 4:30 p.m., ESPN2 (if fifth match).

* Series: In their only meeting in Davis Cup, Czech Republic defeated U.S., 3-2, in 1996 quarterfinal.

* Tickets: Prices ranging from $20 to $450. Call TicketMaster at (213) 480-3232.