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Rafter beats heroic Martin to seal victory for Australia

Patrick Rafter fought back from two sets down against a courageous Todd Martin for an extraordinary five-set triumph that clinched victory for Australia against the United States in their Davis Cup quarter-final tie.

Rafter trailed by 0-3 in the fifth set, but raised his game in the searing heat at Longwood Cricket Club to win six of the last seven games for a 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Martin yesterday, who needed to be rehydrated before the match.

Rafter's rousing three hour, 14-minute win gave Aaustralia an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five match Centennial celebration tie. Australia advanced to the semi-finals, where they will host Russia, 3-2 winners over Slovak Republic.

''It was the most amazing experience I've ever had. I never felt like this before,'' said world No 2 and twice-defending US Open champion Rafter, dripping with sweat after his labours.

''I don't know, this could be even better than the US Open.''

The eighth-ranked Martin played despite US captain Tom Gullikson's efforts to replace him with Pete Sampras after Martin felt sick from heat exhaustion after his last morning warm-up.

The US team doctor thought Martin should not play, but referee Stefan Fransson ordered that Martin be examined by a neutral doctor, who ruled that Martin was fit to play.

The last match of the tie was rendered meaningless after the heroic singles struggle between Rafter and Martin on a sizzling hardcourt where the temperature registered 128 degrees fahrenheit (53 c).

Eighteen-year-old Cup rookie Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Martin in four sets in Friday's opening singles sweep, completed a 4-1 victory for Australia with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Alex O'Brien, substituting for Jim Courier.

Martin came out swinging from the heels at the start of the decisive match and broke Rafter in the opening game with three serve return winners. Another break in the third game and the American was off and running with a 4-0 lead.

The players traded breaks in the third and fourth games of the next set, with Martin taking the critical edge in the 11th game when he hit two more winners off Rafter's serve for a 6-5 lead before serving out the set.

Rafter, who had beaten Martin in five of their last six meetings, rose to the occasion after that. The Australian took advantage of a double fault and some loose Martin groundstrokes for a second-game break that gave him the third set.

The Australian broke twice in the next set as Martin, like a fighter in trouble between rounds, covered his head with cold towels, drank fluids and listened to inspirational pep talks during changeovers.

But Martin revived again in the fifth set, curling a backhand winner into the corner for a break in the second game as he charged out to a 3-0 lead.

Rafter roared back. He began to find the range on the serve that had betrayed him earlier and broke the heavy-footed Martin in three successive service games to complete his amazing comeback.

The tie between the two giants of Davis Cup marked the 100th anniversary of the first Cup competition between the United States and Britain at Longwood in 1900.

Australia, whose 26 Cup titles is second only to the 31 won by the United States, won for the 20th time in 45 ties against the Americans.

UNI