Sweden Extends Davis Cup Semifinals To Final Day, Rolling To Straight-Sets Doubles Win

With Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras taking the day off, Sweden got the Davis Cup win it needed to play another day.

Sweden’s doubles team of Stefan Edberg and Jonas Bjorkman rolled to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Todd Martin and Jonathan Stark on Saturday in Las Vegas, averting an American semifinal sweep of the defending Davis Cup champions.

It was the first win in three matches for Sweden, which still faces an uphill struggle today when Agassi and Sampras return as heavy favorites.

Agassi, playing in his hometown, will meet Thomas Enqvist while Sampras plays Mats Wilander.

In Moscow, Russia kept its hopes for a first Davis Cup title alive when Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Andrei Olhovskiy outlasted Boris Becker and Michael Stich in a five-set slugfest to cut Germany’s lead in the semifinal to 2-1.

Also in Moscow, Magdalena Maleeva overcame a slow start in a rare morning final to defeat Russia’s Yelena Makarova, 6-4, 6-2, and win the indoor Moscow Ladies Open for the second straight year.