Mark Philippoussis gave Australia the lead over Sweden in their Davis Cup quarter-finals on Friday by beating Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening singles match. The 26-year-old played near flawless tennis to outclass the Swedish doubles specialist, who struggled throughout most of the match to hold his own service. The hard-hitting Australian hit a total of 14 aces but also displayed a very solid overall game, producing spectacular winners and backhand passing shots. He also won key points by occasionally shifting to slower strokes against Bjorkman, a player who likes to use the pace of the shots of opponents. Cheered on by hundreds of Australian fans, he broke the Swede in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead in the first set and then held serve to win it 6-4. Bjorkman won only one point in the first set on the serve of Philippoussis, who won it serving out to love. The Swede was broken to 2-1 in the second set and then again to 6-3 after failing to win one of three break-back chances on the Australian’s serve at 3-2. Bjorkman refused to give up but gave Philippoussis a break to 4-2 in the final set after missing an easy forehand volley. Philippoussis went on to serve out, winning on his second match point with a forehand passing shot. Spain take 2-0 lead VALENCIA: Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya scored crushing singles wins over Croatia’s top two players on Friday to take Spain to the brink of a Davis Cup quarter-final victory. Ferrero put a nervous start behind him to set Spain on their way with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 success over teenager Mario Ancic on the red clay at the Valencia Tennis Club. Moya, ranked a place behind Ferrero at No.4 in the world, then won a spectacular tussle with Ivan Ljubicic to make it 2-0 at the end of the first day. Ljubicic served immensely well throughout the match but Moya held on to claim a 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory in two hours 57 minutes — Moya’s first victory in four meetings with the Croatian No.1. Ljubicic is due back on court on Saturday to partner Lovro Zovko in the doubles against Albert Costa and Alex Corretja — a match Croatia must win to keep the tie alive going into the reverse singles on Sunday. Croatia will need to be at the very peak of their game to stand a chance of turning the tie around after Spain’s excellent start on Friday.
