The USA went into the 1st round of their World Group clash against Great Britain in Birmingham in 1999 without the services of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, instead the had Jim Courier and Todd Martin leading their team. Courier played the 1st match against the British Number 1 Tim Henman and the American managed to beat the Englishman 7-5 in the 5th set. Todd Martin then beat Rusedski in straight sets to help the USA to a 2-0 lead in the tie. Britain hit back in the doubles as Henman and Rusedski beat Marin and Alex O Brian in 5 sets to reduce the USA'S lead to 2-1. Henman then levelled the tie on Sunday with a 4 set win over Todd Martin but Courier managed to close the match out for the USA by earning a 5 set victory over Greg Rusedski 8-6 in the 5th set.