MELBOURNE, 29 November 2003 — Australia and Spain were locked at 1-1 after a dramatic first day of singles in the Davis Cup final yesterday.
Lleyton Hewitt produced a stirring comeback to beat French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 and give Australia a 1-0 lead.
But Spain leveled the tie when Carlos Moya upset Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in the second rubber.
“The Australians are favorites, but we are happy with that,” Spanish captain Jordi Arrese said. “Our players are highly motivated to take the salad bowl (Davis Cup trophy) home.”
There was high drama even before the opening match when Spain’s sports minister ordered the team not to start until an apology had been issued after officials played a pre-civil war republican anthem at the opening ceremony.
Juan Antonio Gomez-Angulo, who was watching from the stands, left the Rod Laver Arena in protest over the incident. He returned after an Australian apology and the tennis began.
“This reparation was done but the Spanish delegation is not quite satisfied and we have indicated to the International Tennis Federation, that prior to the commencement of the doubles match, the correct anthem be played,” he later told a news conference.
Hewitt, the former world number one, drew on all his fighting spirit to twice claw his way back from a set down in searing 30 degree Celsius heat.
Ferrero looked to have put the brakes on Hewitt’s comeback when he recovered from a service break down to force the fourth set into a tiebreak, but the Australian raised his game one more time to runaway with the match.
“It was hard work out there in tough conditions,” Hewitt said. “My thoughts and training for the last eight weeks have all been on this match and trying to get Australia off to a great start.”
Australia were confident of snatching a 2-0 lead when Philippoussis lined up against Moya, a claycourt specialist who had only ever won nine matches on grass since turning professional in 1995 and had not played on the surface since June 2002.
Moya was given little hope of nullifying Philippoussis’ booming serve and natural volley game, but he quickly turned the tables on his more fancied opponent who made series of early errors. “I think the key was that I was more relaxed,” Moya said. “I responded well to his service and maybe partly as a result of he made more errors.”
Philippoussis briefly threatened to follow Hewitt’s lead with a comeback of his own when he won the third set but he ran out of puff and lost the fourth in a tiebreak.
“I felt that I was just inches away from getting on a roll and taking it into the fifth,” Philippoussis said. “I have no doubt that when it comes Sunday, I am going to be a different player out there.”
“If he had won the fourth set anything could have happened,” Moya said. “He was not playing very well at the start but he got better.”
Hewitt’s fighting qualities are already legendary and despite his slide down the world rankings he remains one of the most difficult opponents around.
He rallied from two sets down to beat Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the Davis Cup semifinal with Switzerland in September and his performance against Ferrero was just as impressive.
Ferrero, ranked three in the world, had the edge over Hewitt in the early stages of the match, clinically finishing off his break chances to open up a two sets to one lead.
But Hewitt, playing his first match since September, slowly wore him down, using his superior grass court skills to find a way through Ferrero’s steady baseline game.
“It was a long match and it was difficult at any point to decide who was going to win,” Ferrero said. “It was fairly even match (and) I think there was very little difference between us except for the fifth set.”
