Hewitt strikes back for Australia

Julian Linden

Pat Rafter suffered a traumatic loss to Sweden's Thomas Johansson, but Lleyton Hewitt raised Australian spirits by levelling the Davis Cup semifinal at 1-1 after two absorbing matches on Friday.

Johansson gave the Swedes first blood when he fought back from the brink of defeat to beat Rafter 3-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in an epic battle lasting more than three-and-a-half hours.

Hewitt, though, squared the match as night fell, the newly crowned U.S. Open champion coming from behind to topple Jonas Bjorkman 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in another marathon encounter.

With the tie level, the doubles will be played on Saturday and the decisive reverse singles on Sunday. The eventual winners will host France or The Netherlands in this year's final.

Rafter was virtually inconsolable after his surprise loss at Sydney's Olympic tennis centre.

The double U.S. Open champion and twice Wimbledon finalist looked to be cruising to a comfortable victory before his game suddenly started to unravel.

"It was a really bad error on my part," Rafter said. "I just let him right back into the match.

"I fell asleep after two sets and you just can't afford to do that."

Rafter took the first set with a service break in the eighth game then snatched the second set in a close tiebreaker. But Johansson, who lost to Rafter in their only previous meeting at Wimbledon last year, suddenly fought his way back into the match as the world number four's normally reliable serve-and-volley game quickly deteriorated.

UNFORCED ERRORS

Rafter served up 16 double-faults and committed a string of unforced errors as the quietly spoken Swede seized on the opportunity by raising his game.

He broke Rafter's serve twice in both the third and fourth sets to level the match, and broke once more in the fifth to complete a remarkable turnaround.

"For sure this is my best win so far," said Johansson, ranked 17 in the world.

"To come back from two sets to love against Pat is a very good effort.

"I was a little bit surprised but I just tried to stay positive...I think today was my lucky day."

Hewitt, playing his first match since his U.S. Open triumph, got an early feel of what life is going to be like as a Grand Slam champion as Bjorkman made him work for every point.

SURPRISE CHOICE

Better known as a doubles player, Bjorkman was a surprise choice as Sweden's second singles player, preferred to the higher-ranked Thomas Enqvist, the 1999 Australian Open runner-up.

But Bjorkman justified his selection with a brave display, pressing Hewitt all the way. He recovered from a break down to pinch the first set in 48 minutes and succeeded in unsettling the young Australian by varying his game.

Hewitt, though, has already shown during his short career that he has the stomach for a fight. He took the second set with a single break in the ninth game then edged ahead for the first time when he won the third in a tiebreaker.

As the stadium's floodlights were illuminated at the start of the fourth, Hewitt began to display his full repertoire of fist-pumping antics.

Inspired, the 20-year-old, who has risen to third in the world rankings, saved four break points in the fifth game, then broke Bjorkman to love.

He failed to serve out the match at 5-3 but held his nerve to win the tiebreaker and square things up after more than seven hours of play.