| | Associated Press
BRISBANE, Australia -- Spearheaded by a rejuvenated Pat
Rafter, defending champion Australia on Sunday completed a 5-0
sweep of Brazil in the Davis Cup semifinal to reach its second
straight final.
The Wimbledon finalist capped Australia's demolition with a 6-3,
6-4 win against Fernando Meligeni in the fifth and final match.
The Australians must wait until next week to find out where the
final will be played and who they will meet.
A decimated United States team will be the underdog when it
travels to Spain next weekend in the other semifinal. If Spain
wins, the final will be held in Barcelona, Spain, Dec. 8-10.
If the United States is victorious, the final will be played on
the same dates in Melbourne, Australia.
The Americans will be without its top two players, Wimbledon
champion Pete Sampras and Australian Open winner Andre Agassi.
"Everyone hates playing the Spanish in Spain because they're so
good on clay," said John Newcombe, who is retiring as Australian
captain after the final.
Rafter, who was recovering from shoulder surgery last year when
Australia clinched its 27th Davis Cup title by beating France in
Nice, said he was back in peak form.
"After nine months of struggling back with the shoulder, it's
really enjoyable," said Rafter, who was thrown into the opening
singles match Friday just five days after losing the Wimbledon
final to Sampras.
After his win Sunday, the two-time U.S. Open champion peeled his
shirt off and threw it into the crowd, which had packed the
makeshift grass-court venue at ANZ Stadium the last three days.
Earlier Sunday, Lleyton Hewitt needed just 69 minutes to dispose
of Andre Sa, a late replacement for French Open champion Gustavo
Kuerten, 6-4, 6-1. Kuerten withdrew due to a groin injury after
losing the doubles on Saturday.
Australia held an unbeatable 3-0 lead going into the third day
of the best-of-five match semi after winning both opening singles
matches and the doubles.
Elsewhere, Ecuador, the Netherlands and Romania gained berths in
the 2001 World Group, the top 16 nations that actually compete for
the prestigious trophy.
Ecuador 3, Britain 2 At Wimbledon, England, Giovanni Lapentti rallied from two
sets down in the fifth and decisive match to defeat Arvind Parmar
4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 and put Ecuador in the Davis Cup World
Group for the first time.
In Sunday's first singles match, Britain's Tim Henman defeated
Nicolas Lapentti, Giovanni's older brother, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to pull
Britain into a 2-2 tie.
Parmar was in complete control on Court No. 1 in the first two
sets before his first serve began faltering. Lapentti also began to
land his groundstrokes, passing shots and served consistently.
Parmar was broken early in the third set and again early in the
fourth. In the fifth, Lapentti broke again -- this time waiting
until the eighth game -- and then held serve, flopping on the grass
after the victory to celebrate as he was smothered by teammates and
supporters.
"I guess I was motivated or something and I started playing
unbelievable," Giovanni Lapentti said. "This is the best day of
my life."
Parmar, Britain's No. 3, was pressed into service on Saturday
after Greg Rusedski pulled out with a right foot injury following
his Friday singles' loss to Nicolas Lapentti.
Romania 3, Zimbabwe 2: At Harare, Zimbabwe, Andrei Pavel on Sunday put his country
back into the World Group by beating Zimbabwe's No. 1 Byron Black
6-2, 6-4, 6-1 and giving Romania an unbeatable 3-1 lead.
In the final match, Zimbabwe's Wayne Black defeated Razvan Sabau
6-2, 7-6 (2).
Netherlands 4, Uzbekistan 1: At Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dutchman Paul Haarhuis easily
defeated Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-2 in singles play
Sunday, giving the Netherlands a 4-1 victory in the World Group
qualifying round.
Oleg Ogorodov scored Uzbekistan's only victory in the three-day
event, defeating Sjeng Schalken 6-4, 6-3.
With its lopsided win, the Netherlands will advance to the 2001
Davis Cup World Group.
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ALSO SEE
Sunday's results
Defending champ Australia advances to Davis Cup final
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