Henri Leconte, claiming the greatest day of his life, Friday salvaged France's Davis Cup chances against the United States with a straight-sets upset of Pete Sampras that tied the best-of-five final 1-1 after opening singles.
After Andre Agassi's four-set defeat of France's Guy Forget in a match perceived as crucial to the underdog host nation, Leconte beat the world's sixth-ranked men's player 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. Agassi won 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 before Leconte stopped Sampras's personal surge and the Americans' momentum."It's the greatest day of my life. I've played some big finals in my time but this beats everything - I can't have played much better before, " said 29-year-old Leconte who after back surgery plummeted to a ranking of 159.
Doubles will be played Saturday, with reverse singles Sunday determining whether the United States successfully defends the Cup.
Leconte, who was restricted to just three matches in the qualifying tournaments because of a nagging back injury, won in two hours 26 minutes.
"He was hitting shots most players don't even attempt," said Sampras, who never had faced Leconte.
French captain Yannick Noah immediately changed his doubles lineup for Saturday, picking Leconte in place of Arnaud Boetsch to pair with Forget against Ken Flach and Robert Seguso.