Aussies snag another Cup

The Australian Davis Cup team, from left, Todd Woodbridge, Wayne Arthurs, John Fitzgerald, Mark Phillippoussis and Lleyton Hewitt after winning the 2003 Davis Cup final at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, yesterday. Mark Philippoussis defeated Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero today to give his team an unbeatable 3-1 lead. PHOTO: EPA

Mark Philippoussis threw his racket, then dropped to the ground, as much from pain and exhaustion as from exhilaration.

Fighting off an injury to his right shoulder, Philippoussis gave Australia its 28th Davis Cup on Sunday with a stirring 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0 win over Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, clinching the best-of-five 2003 World Group final 3-1.

"At the end I was just completely numb," said Philippoussis. "It felt like I wasn't playing -- I was sort of watching from the side. I didn't know what was going on. Thank God those shots were going in."

A scheduled second reverse singles match Sunday between Lleyton Hewitt and Carlos Moya was not played.

Philippoussis played strongly at first, but then allowed Ferrero back into the match as the Australian ignored pain in his serving-side right shoulder. After the fourth set, when he received prolonged treatment, Philippoussis opened the decider to hold serve and then broke Ferrero to go up 2-0.

Holding his shoulder and wincing as he served, Philippoussis went up 3-0 in the next game and then broke Ferrero again in the fourth when the Spaniard's floating backhand went long.

Australia's Mark Philippoussis reacts after scoring a point against Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero during the Davis Cup finals in Melbourne, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

He hit a hard overhand smash to finish the match, then dropped to the court while his teammates raced out to congratulate him.

Philippoussis said the shoulder started bothering him two days ago and that he'll undergo an MRI scan Monday to determine if there is a tear in the muscle.

"But there was no way I could quit, this is what Davis Cup is all about," he said. "You have to leave your heart out there."

Aussie captain John Fitzgerald said "I think we've got a guy today who just became a national hero."

It was Australia's first Davis Cup trophy win at home since 1986, when Pat Cash led Australia over Sweden at Kooyong in Melbourne.

It was also Australia's fourth finals win over Spain -- all on grass. Spain's only Davis Cup win came over Australia on clay in Barcelona three years ago.

Australia lost the final to France on the same temporary grass court at Rod Laver Arena two years ago.

Fitzgerald paid tribute to Spain.

"You don't get matches like that without passion from both sides," said Fitzgerald. "Spain, there's no doubt they're the strongest men's nation in the world -- they've got a conveyor belt of players.

"They played on a surface that's probably most foreign to them. You can imagine how tough they would be at home on clay. They showed a lot of class, a lot of character. It was a privilege to play against them."

Ferrero, who said he has never lost the deciding set of a five-set match 6-0, said he didn't feel he had a letdown in the last set.

"I don't think my mentality changed," said Ferrero. "I tried just as hard in the fifth set, but there was a lot of pressure on me.

"My feeling is one of sadness. We came here with a lot of hopes to win this final."

Hewitt gave Australia a 1-0 lead with a five-set win Friday over Ferrero before Moya beat Philippoussis in four. Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge beat the Spanish pair of Alex Corretja and Feliciano Lopez in straight sets in doubles Saturday to give Australia a 2-1 lead.

Australia has been up 2-1 on the beginning of the third day in 222 various rounds of Davis Cup matches and has lost only four times.

Before the match Sunday, the capacity crowd of nearly 15,000 observed a minute of silence in memory of seven Spanish military advisers killed in an ambush south of Baghdad on Saturday.

Spain beat Belgium in the first round this year, then defeated Croatia and Argentina to advance to the final. Australia won its opening match against Britain, then defeated Sweden before a semifinal win over Switzerland.

The US, with 31 wins, is the only country with more Cup victories than Australia. Australia will begin defense of its 2003 title against Sweden in Adelaide, Australia from Feb. 6 through Feb. 8, 2004.

If Australia wins, it could face the US in the quarterfinals from April 9-11 of next year. The Americans will play Austria at home in the first round in February.