SYDNEY - Australia will host France in the Davis Cup final after completing a 4-1 semifinal win over Sweden in Sydney yesterday.
Lleyton Hewitt clinched the tie for Australia with a 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over Thomas Johansson before Pat Rafter finished off Jonas Bjorkman 6-3, 6-2 in the
dead rubber.
The final will be played in Melbourne from November 30 to December 2 against the French, who beat the Netherlands in the other semifinal without requiring the reverse singles.
Australia went into the final day leading 2-1 after capturing Saturday's doubles match and splitting the first-day singles, and lost only one set at Sydney's Olympic tennis centre.
The first reverse singles match was evenly poised after Johansson won the second set to level the rubber, but Hewitt quickly put the issue beyond doubt by winning 10 of the last 11 games.
Johansson came from two sets behind to beat Rafter in Friday's opening match, but was unable to repeat his heroics against Hewitt, who in this tie was playing for the first time since winning this month's US Open.
The 20-year-old Australian, who beat Bjorkman on Friday, took the first set in a tiebreak after he failed to serve it out at 5-4.
Johansson levelled the match when he won the second, breaking Hewitt in the 11th game, but ran out of puff in the final two sets. They were level at 2-2 when Hewitt got the decisive break in the fifth game of the third set. The Australian dropped just one more game on his way to victory, sealing the win with an ace after two hours and 40 minutes.
With the tie already decided, Rafter made light work of Bjorkman, sealing victory in the best-of-three-set clash in under an hour.
Australia's win secured them their first home final in 15 years.
They beat France in Nice in the 1999 final to win the Davis Cup for the 27th time, but lost last year's decider in Spain.
"It doesn't get much better than playing a Davis Cup final in Melbourne," Hewitt said. "We always had that in the back of our minds."
