Frenchman Nicolas Escude maintained his perfect record in the Davis Cup with a surprise 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over world number one Lleyton Hewitt. The Frenchman has never lost a Davis Cup singles match and continued his amazing run by beating the world number one on the first day of the final with Australia. He now boasts a 7-0 record in Davis Cup singles since making his debut in the competition in 1998.
Although Escude beat Hewitt earlier in the year in a five-set thriller at Wimbledon, he was given little chance of repeating the feat on Australian soil as Hewitt had lost just two matches in the past three months to establish himself as the new world number one and also has a proud Davis Cup record to match. "I used the same tactics that I used at Wimbledon, to come to the net at every opportunity and put pressure on him," explained Escude. "I was very nervous at the beginning and I couldn't find my timing on serve but it got better as the match went on and that was the key."
However, Pat Rafter kept Australia's hopes alive with a straight sets victory over Sebastien Grosjean to level matters at 1-1 after the opening day's singles matches. Although Rafter has been troubled by tendinitis in his serving arm leading up to this event, he showed no signs of difficulty when overcoming Grosjean 6-3 7-6 7-5.
Now, Australia could be forced into making a late change the doubles team that will take to the court against France in tomorrow's tie. Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs have been pencilled in to play Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro in the doubles rubber but Australia's non-playing captain John Fitzgerald said he would consider putting Lleyton Hewitt or Patrick Rafter in the team after Friday's opening singles matches were split 1-1. "We will make a team appraisal of the whole situation tonight and go over the pros and cons before making a decision," he said.
However, French captain Guy Forget said he had no intention of changing his team and would be surprised if the Australians decided to opt for either Rafter or Hewitt over Woodbridge or Arthurs. "Todd is probably the best doubles player in the world right now so I expect him to play, probably with Wayne Arthurs," Forget said. "This is going to be a big doubles match tomorrow and I think the team who wins the doubles is going to have a good chance to win the tie."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
