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Spain, Australia to contest Davis Cup final in Melbourne

Spain will meet Australia in the Davis Cup final after both teams overcame stiff opposition to win their semifinal ties 3-2 on Sunday.

Lleyton Hewitt rallied from two sets down to beat Wimbledon champion Roger Federer 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-1 and give 1999 champion Australia a decisive 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie against Switzerland.

Carlos Moya beat Gaston Gaudio 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the final rubber of Spain's semifinal against Argentina to seal the win for the 2000 champion after the South Americans came back from 2-0 down. Australia will play the Nov. 28 to Nov. 30 final at home in Melbourne.

In Malaga, Moya needed only seven games to take the first set against a surprisingly listless Gaudio, who entered the tie with a Davis Cup record of 13-1. He lost both matches against Spain.

The second and third sets lasted longer but Moya was still in control.

"I always dreamed of this," said a jubilant Moya, the only one in the squad who didn't play on the team that won the 2000 Davis Cup final against Australia.

In Sunday's first match, Agustin Calleri upset world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 to level the tie at 2-2 after also anchoring the Argentine team to victory in Saturday's doubles.

On Friday, Ferrero brushed aside Gaudio 6-4, 6-0, 6-0 and Moya beat Mariano Zabaleta 5-7, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.

In Melbourne, Hewitt dropped the first two sets and was in a big hole with Federer serving for the match at 5-3 in the third. But the former world No. 1 surged back, breaking Federer and eventually sending the set to a tiebreaker.

After winning the next two sets and closing out the match in 3 hours, 31 minutes, Hewitt was lifted high into the air by Australian captain John Fitzgerald while Hewitt's girlfriend, top-ranked Kim Clijsters of Belgium, cheered from the stands.

Hewitt said the victory topped the Grand Slam titles he won at Wimbledon last year and the US Open in 2001.

"Everyone knows how passionate I am about Davis Cup," Hewitt said. "To be standing there and serving for the match like I was tonight is an unbelievable feeling."

Australia led 2-1 Saturday after a five-set doubles victory by Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge over Federer and Marc Rosset. The teams split the singles Friday, with Federer beating Mark Philippoussis in a Wimbledon final rematch and Hewitt downing Michel Kratochvil.

The final singles between Woodbridge and Kratochvil was called off after Kratochvil won the first set 6-4 and Woodbridge quit with an unspecified injury, making the final margin 3-2 Australia.

The Australians won the Davis Cup final against Spain in 1965 and 1967, both played at home.

Andy Roddick kept the US in the Davis Cup's top tier, defeating Karol Beck 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in Bratislava and giving his team an unbeatable 3-1 lead against Slovakia in the relegation playoffs.

Rookie Michal Mertinak, a replacement for Dominik Hrbaty, beat Mardy Fish 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a meaningless second reverse singles.

Losing to Slovakia would have relegated the Americans to the second level of Davis Cup for the first time in 15 years.

Meanwhile, Morocco's Hicham Arazi completed a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5) win over Britain's Greg Rusedski yesterday in the fifth and deciding match of the World Group playoff.

Arazi's win means Morocco replaces Britain in the elite 16 of Davis Cup tennis.

Also in the playoffs: Austria 3, Belgium 2; Czech Republic 4, Thailand 1; Belarus 3, Germany 2; Canada 3, Brazil 2; and Romania 2, Ecuador 2.
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