Thunder Down Under

Philippoussis overcomes injury to blast Ferrero in fifth set

The Australain team of Todd Woodbridge, Wayne Arthurs, captain John Fitzgerald, Mark Philippoussis and Lleyton Hewitt celebrate with the Cup. AP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Mark Philippoussis gave Australia its 28th Davis Cup title Sunday, fighting off a shoulder injury that nearly forced him to retire after the fourth set to beat Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0.

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

Philippoussis gave Australia a 3-1 lead in the best-of-five competition on the temporary grass court at Rod Laver Arena. A scheduled second reverse singles match Sunday between Lleyton Hewitt and Carlos Moya was not played.

After receiving treatment on his right shoulder, Philippoussis held serve in the first game of the fifth set and broke Ferrero to go up 2-0. 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," Philippoussis said. "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. ... There was no way I could quit, this is what Davis Cup is all about."

In the opening singles matches Friday, Hewitt gave Australia a 1-0 lead with a five-set victory over Ferrero, and Moya beat Philippoussis to it. 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.

"Spain, there's no doubt they're the strongest men's nation in the world -- they've got a conveyor belt of players," Fitzgerald said. "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 said he didn't feel he had a letdown in the last set.

"I don't think my mentality changed," Ferrero said. "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."