Unheralded Duo Seal Mighty Cup Victory

Sun Herald

Sunday April 9, 2006

By DARREN WALTON MELBOURNE

WAYNE Arthurs and Paul Hanley beat Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov in a five-set doubles thriller to give Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead over Belarus in their Davis Cup quarter-final yesterday.

Arthurs and Hanley won 3-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in a marathon encounter to send Australia into their fifth quarter-final in eight years after Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione had won the opening singles rubbers on Friday.

Australia will play either defending champions Croatia at home or Argentina in South America in the semi-finals in September.

Belarus achieved the only service break of the first set when Hanley committed a costly forehand volley error in the eighth game.

Australia hit back to break Mirnyi midway through the second to get back on level terms, only for Voltchkov to fire a sizzling forehand return winner to break Hanley in the 11th game of the third set.

Voltchkov comfortably served out the set and the Belarussians seemed on their way to victory when they established two break points with Arthurs serving at 2-2 and 15-40 in the fourth set.

The Australian duo escaped, broke Mirnyi to love in the next game and held on to send the match into the fifth set.

Hanley staved off a break point in the eighth game of the final set, after dishing up consecutive double-faults, before unleashing a blistering forehand winner to grab the break on Voltchkov's serve in the 11th game.

Hanley kept his cool to serve out the match after almost four hours of tension.

Hewitt, Australia's top player, admits he's struggling but says he has no plans to buckle to increasing pressure from critics calling for him to change his playing style.

Hewitt hasn't beaten anyone in the top 20 since the US Open in September, has slipped outside the top 10 and is in the middle of a 15-month title drought.

Former world No. 1s Pat Rafter, John Newcombe and Mats Wilander are among a growing list of experts to have urged Hewitt to attack more and get to the net to finish points more quickly.

Rafter considers his former Davis Cup teammate one of the best volleyers on tour, and Wilander, like Hewitt a classic counter-puncher, has expressed fears that the 25-year-old risks mental burnout if he doesn't become more aggressive.

Hewitt, though, has no intention of undergoing a mid-career makeover.

"There's always little areas you try to work on," he said.

"For me to play my best tennis, [I] feel like I've got to get into that groove and be on auto-pilot when I'm playing out there."

RUBBER FIGURES

Game one: Chris Guccione d Max Mirnyi 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Game two: Lleyton Hewitt d Vladimir Voltchkov 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.

Game three: Wayne Arthurs/Paul Hanley d Max Mirnyi/Vladimir Voltchkov 3-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Australia win 3-0 and play Argentina or Croatia in thesemi-finals. Reverse singles today.

© 2006 Sun Herald

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