Spaniards Upset-Minded Trailing 1-2 in Davis Cup Final

Posted on November 30, 2003

While trailing 1-2 after Saturday's doubles, Spain realize they are just two singles wins away from perhaps the biggest upset in Davis Cup history.

Carlos Moya's stunning upset of Mark Philippoussis on the lawn Friday evened the match at 1-1, but Australia retook the lead in the Saturday doubles when Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge steamrolled Alex Corretja and Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in 1-1/2 hours.

"I think I've played a couple of Wimbledon finals where I've played that standard," said Woodbridge, who dominated the match with his forehands and a feathery touch on the lob. "But when you look at the pressure and the situation, this is probably the outstanding one...I was calm and really focused and I had a lot of confidence in Wayne."

Woodbridge set a record for matches in Australia's 84-year Davis Cup history, marking his 29th appearance, breaking the record of 28 set by Adrian Quist between 1933 and 1939.

Corretja said the Spanish team knew they were in trouble from the onset against perhaps the best Davis Cup tandem in tennis today.

"We knew from the first point," said Corretja, who proved to be the weak link, losing three of his six service games, and taking a time-out to get his shoulder looked at. "They played brilliantly. They were from another planet."

Today will be the decider, with the Spaniards needing to sweep both singles matches in Juan Carlos Ferrero against Philippousis (both lost their opening matches Friday, JC has won their last two meetings, albeit on clay), and Lleyton Hewitt against Moya (the Spaniard leads the career head-to-head 5-3).

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
From Sportsnetwork.com: "The American charge is joined by world No. 32 Robby Ginepri, No. 33 Taylor Dent and No. 37 James Blake. And if you wanted, you could toss No. 29 Vincent Spadea and No. 51 Jan-Michael Gambill into the mix, but Spadea is no youngster at 29, nor is Gambill at 26...so let's forget them in this equation." Ouch...Robby Ginepri's $250,000 win at the Superset exhibition was more than half of what he earned on tour for the year...The "Indian Express," the oft-feuding Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, have confirmed they will team up a few times in 2004 (possibly beginning in January at the ATP stop in Chennai) before representing India at the Athens Olympics later in the year...Apparently Juan Carlos Ferrero revealed he has been ill after losing the opening five-setter to Lleyton Hewitt in the Davis Cup final singles on Friday...Trumpeter James Morrison after playing the wrong Spanish national anthem Friday at the Davis Cup final: "They were looking daggers at me, but I thought they were just getting really psyched for the game ahead."...Lleyton Hewitt outhit Juan Carlos Ferrero 21-9 in forehand winners in their opening match...Aussie legend Tony Roche had kind words after Lleyton Hewitt's five-set win in the opener: "When is he going to stop surprising us? He keeps surprising us."...Lleyton Hewitt credits much-maligned coach Roger Rasheed with his bulked-up physique and top fitness condition: "The people who bag Roger wouldn't have a clue. They have got no idea how much work he puts in. He just put 110 percent into everything to prepare me right for this Davis Cup tie, knowing that I was going to go out there and play for the country and play under Fitzy and Wally. We've done a lot of stuff in the gym. As soon as I could start putting weight on my foot after I had the small operation and then we were in the gym every day."...Goran Ivnisevic has pulled out of a scheduled exhibition match next week against Tim Henman, still dogged by shoulder problems...Last year the ITF spent approximately $42 million to encourage tennis programs worldwide...Last year, France's narrow loss to Russia in the Davis Cup final attracted an average audience of 8.2 million viewers for the French national broadcaster, making it that country's highest-rated program of the year...If the Aussies are smart, they need to throw on a THIRD Spanish national anthem before play starts today to really throw off their opponents.