QUOTE What Ferrero Said: "I don't think my mentality changed at all. I feel that I played pretty much the same in the third and fourth set, as well as the first and second set. I tried just as hard in the fifth. (My) arm was playing up. The serves weren't as good. There was a lot of pressure on me from the start. Although he was having problems with the shoulder, I think he played just as well,"
"I wasn't thinking anything special. I was thinking I have to steal, in the same way as the third and fourth sets and try to break his serves. I tried to keep fighting and keep going until I win the match, but finally it was impossible."
ARTICLE Scud's heroics wins Davis Cup
Mark Philippoussis, fighting off a shoulder injury that nearly forced him to retire after the fourth set, gave Australia its 28th Davis Cup title by defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0.
The win gave Australia an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five final. 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 on his shoulder, 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.
Philippoussis hit a hard overhand smash to finish the match, then dropped to the court while his teammates raced out to congratulate him.
"This is incredible," said Philippoussis. "At the end I was just completely numb. 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."
Hewitt gave Australia a 1-0 lead with a five-set win Friday over Ferrero before Moya beat Philippoussis. Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge beat the Spanish pair of Alex Corretja and Feliciano Lopez in straight sets Saturday to give Australia a 2-1 lead.
Philippoussis, who was so ineffectual in his four-set loss to Moya in the opening singles, promised better things in Sunday's match and held true to his word - at least in the first two sets.
But Ferrero outplayed the Australian in the third and fourth sets in steamy conditions on a temporary grass court at Rod Laver Arena. Temperatures on court in excess of 30C (86F) sapped energy from both players.
Before the fifth set began, Ferrero received massage treatment on his legs and arms while Philippoussis took an injury time out to have work done on his right shoulder.
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.
Philippoussis held one set point in the ninth game of the first set but Ferrero fought back to hold service. Two games later, leading 6-5, Philippoussis made no mistake, holding three set points on Ferrero's serve, including a deft drop shot at the net.
The Australian dropped the next two points, then completed the break and won the set when he hit a cross-court forehand on Ferrero's second serve after the Spaniard had disputed a fault call on his first serve. Television replays indicated that his first serve had touched the line and was good.
Philippoussis broke Ferrero's service to love in the eighth game, then held service in the next game to take the second set after Ferrero had fought off three set points.
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I wonder if the outcome would have been different if the right call had been made at that crucial moment... JC might have won that first set
"I wasn't thinking anything special. I was thinking I have to steal, in the same way as the third and fourth sets and try to break his serves. I tried to keep fighting and keep going until I win the match, but finally it was impossible."
ARTICLE Scud's heroics wins Davis Cup
Mark Philippoussis, fighting off a shoulder injury that nearly forced him to retire after the fourth set, gave Australia its 28th Davis Cup title by defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0.
The win gave Australia an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five final. 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 on his shoulder, 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.
Philippoussis hit a hard overhand smash to finish the match, then dropped to the court while his teammates raced out to congratulate him.
"This is incredible," said Philippoussis. "At the end I was just completely numb. 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."
Hewitt gave Australia a 1-0 lead with a five-set win Friday over Ferrero before Moya beat Philippoussis. Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge beat the Spanish pair of Alex Corretja and Feliciano Lopez in straight sets Saturday to give Australia a 2-1 lead.
Philippoussis, who was so ineffectual in his four-set loss to Moya in the opening singles, promised better things in Sunday's match and held true to his word - at least in the first two sets.
But Ferrero outplayed the Australian in the third and fourth sets in steamy conditions on a temporary grass court at Rod Laver Arena. Temperatures on court in excess of 30C (86F) sapped energy from both players.
Before the fifth set began, Ferrero received massage treatment on his legs and arms while Philippoussis took an injury time out to have work done on his right shoulder.
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.
Philippoussis held one set point in the ninth game of the first set but Ferrero fought back to hold service. Two games later, leading 6-5, Philippoussis made no mistake, holding three set points on Ferrero's serve, including a deft drop shot at the net.
The Australian dropped the next two points, then completed the break and won the set when he hit a cross-court forehand on Ferrero's second serve after the Spaniard had disputed a fault call on his first serve. Television replays indicated that his first serve had touched the line and was good.
Philippoussis broke Ferrero's service to love in the eighth game, then held service in the next game to take the second set after Ferrero had fought off three set points.
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I wonder if the outcome would have been different if the right call had been made at that crucial moment... JC might have won that first set
