Jim Courier erased them all - the Davis Cup doubts, problems playing for the flag and his inability to solve the Swiss.
"I feel like I'm as much a part of this team as anyone else," Courier said Sunday after beating Jakob Hlasek 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the United States' 30th Davis Cup."I really wanted to contribute," Courier said. "Everybody got their points and every point was huge. Hopefully, we'll win this thing for the next eight, nine years."
The U.S. team recaptured the cup a year after a stunning loss to the French by overwhelming first-time finalist Switzerland.
Andre Agassi started it Friday with a less than 90-minute straight-sets clinic of Hlasek. But Courier, ranked No. 1 in the world, fell to nemesis Marc Rosset in the Americans' only defeat in the best-of-5 tournament. The final singles match between Agassi and Rosset was canceled, making the final score 3-1.
Rosset, who also upset Courier, the world's No. 1-ranked player, at the Barcelona Olympics on his way to the gold medal this summer, had never before rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit.
But a fresh doubles team of John McEnroe and Pete Sampras charged back after losing to first two sets to rally past a tiring Rosset and Hlasek, who teamed to win three tournaments in 1992, including the French Open.
Courier, known for his blue-collar approach, won Sunday for just the third time in eight Davis Cup matches, and he did it in spite of the flag-waving, cowbell-ringing, song-singing crowd of 11,446, which had clearly rattled him in his first match Friday.
"I like to play at a different rhythm than the crowd allows me to play, but the Olympics and Davis Cup really are unique experiences," Courier said. "And you have to go out there and enjoy the moment a little bit, enjoy seeing all those flags being waved."
Courier said finally winning one for his country was quite a relief.
"Nothing means more to me than to be around these bunch of guys and bring the Cup back where it belongs," he said. "There's certainly not anything like winning for a team. It's not something we get to do very often."
Hlasek said Courier could come to dominate Davis Cup like he does the tour.