Australia had Brazil floundering and on the run with straight set victories in the opening day singles of the Davis Cup tennis semifinal at ANZ Stadium in Brisbane Friday.
Patrick Rafter drained Brazilian confidence when he sailed past French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in 80 minutes to set the ball rolling for the defending champions.
Nineteen-year-old Lleyton Hewitt tightened Australia's grip with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over left-hander Fernando Meligeni in 96 minutes to be just one rubber away from advancing to the December 8-10 final.
The winner of the Brisbane semifinal will play either Spain or the United States, who decide the second semifinal in Santander, Spain, next weekend.
Brazil's task of reaching their first-ever Davis Cup final will be made even more difficult with the likelihood that Kuerten will pull out of Saturday's doubles rubber with a groin injury.
Australia, 27 times winners of the Davis Cup, are bidding for their eighth consecutive winning Davis Cup tie.
Rafter increased his career Davis Cup record to 13-7 while Hewitt improved to 8-3 since his Cup debut against the United States 12 months ago.
Just five days after losing to Pete Sampras in the Wimbledon final, Rafter had little trouble getting past the top-rated Kuerten, who could not come to grips with Rafter's net play and the low, inconsistent bounce on the grass surface.
"If you keep it low to him it's probably the weakest area of his game and as soon as you get the ball up anywhere above his knees he's very dangerous," said Rafter.
"I don't think he really believed he could beat me, either that, or he really struggled in the conditions and near the last couple of games he looked like he pulled up a little bit sore in the groin."
It was Rafter's 12th win in his last 13 matches.
"When you're on a roll you try to keep it going and I've hit a lot of balls lately and the luck and the wins are going my way," he said.
"I feel that every time I'm playing I've got a chance of winning."
It was 27-year-old Rafter's first singles match in Davis Cup since his career-threatening shoulder operation last year and his first since helping Australia to a 4-1 win over the United States in Boston last July - (AFP)
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