Winston-Salem Journal: Davis Cup is down to two Winston-Salem, Portland the finalists

Winston-Salem’s hopes of landing the Davis Cup final remained alive and got a boost yesterday.

The United States Tennis Association eliminated San Diego and Oklahoma City from consideration and said that it had narrowed the candidates to Winston-Salem and Portland, Ore.

There were indications that the USTA will make a final decision and sign a contract with one of the two remaining bidders before the start of next weekend’s semifinal tie between the U.S. and Sweden in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Don Flow, head of the Winston-Salem Organizing Committee, was contacted by USTA officials yesterday afternoon with the update.

“They said they were very pleased with our proposal,” Flow said. “So I’m optimistic. But I also know Portland is formidable competition. So we’ll keep our fingers crossed now. We’ve done everything we can do at this point.”

The Davis Cup final is scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

Under a complicated format used to determine Davis Cup sites, the U.S. will host the Davis Cup final if two scenarios play out next weekend. The U.S. must beat Sweden, and Russia must beat Germany in the other semifinal. If Germany beats Russia and the U.S. wins, the U.S. would play at Germany.

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