Aussie gamble backfires as France takes lead

Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro upset the Australian dream team of Lleyton Hewitt and Patrick Rafter 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 on Saturday to give France a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final.

The Australians made a last-minute decision to change their doubles combination after Friday's singles were split 1-1 but the gamble backfired on them in spectacular fashion.

Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge had originally been selected but Australia's non-playing captain John Fitzgerald decided to go with Hewitt and Rafter even though they played on Friday and will have to play again in Sunday's concluding singles.

Woodbridge is one of the most accomplished doubles players in history with 70 career titles, including 12 grand slams, and his ommission is sure to be controversial.

Arthurs too has proven himself to be a reliable doubles player, teaming up with Woodbridge to secure a crucial win over Sweden in this year's semifinals.

The result of Saturday's match left France in the driving seat to secure their ninth Davis Cup title, needing to win just one of Sunday's two reverse singles matches.

The outcome of the doubles rubber has always been pivotal in Davis Cup finals with the winner going on to win the title in each of the last 23 years and Hewitt and Rafter were both showing signs of tiredness by the end.

France had drawn first blood in Friday's opening singles rubber when Nicolas Escude came from behind to beat Hewitt in five sets but Australia drew level when Rafter defeated Sebastien Grosjean in straight sets.

STILL UNDERDOGS

Despite the weight of history on his side, French captain Guy Forget said his team were still the underdogs heading into the final day with Grosjean to face world number one Hewitt and Escude to tackle Wimbledon finalist Rafter.

"Of course it will be very hard, Patrick and Lleyton are better than us, their results have been more consistent but Davis Cup is one of those crazy events where anything can happen," Forget said.

Australia's decision to switch their doubles pairing had looked to be working well when they broke Pioline's serve twice to take the opening set in 34 minutes.

But the French quickly found their rhythm on Melbourne Park's temporary grass court as the Australians' game started to unravel.

Rafter and U.S. Open champion Hewitt had played doubles together only once before in Davis Cup while the French have been regular partners.

With Santoro calling the shots, France squared the match when they broke Rafter's serve to win the second set in 29 minutes.

The Australians looked to be back in control of the third set but they failed to convert two set points on Pioline's serve in the 10th game then blew a 5-4 lead in the tiebreak to give the French the lead.

"I think the tiebreaker was the key. If we had lost that we would have been 2-1 down," Forget said.

Sensing victory, the French completely overran the Australians in the fourth set as the frustrations turned to errors, and they wrapped up a famous victory in two hours 47 minutes.