World number 80 Chris Guccione and Carsten Ball, the 189th-ranked player, clinched a memorable Davis Cup win for Australia on Saturday to keep their country's World Group hopes alive.
Guccione and Ball defeated Chile's former Olympic champions Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in a four-hour, doubles marathon to cut the deficit in their play-off to 2-1 ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.
It was a remarkable win for the Australian duo playing on unfamiliar clay in the Chilean town of Antofagasta, 1300km north of the capital Santiago, after they had trailed 0-3 and then 2-4 in a dramatic final set.
"I thought I handled the pressure really well," said 21-year-old Ball who spends most of his time on the second-tier Challenger Tour. "I tried not to worry about that too much, just tried to stay focussed on the ball coming at me and it all went our way in the end. "I could have made a few more first serves but I was happy with the way we rallied in the fifth set and we got the job done."
Australia, who have captured the Davis Cup 28 times, are playing here without the talismanic Lleyton Hewitt and had trailed 2-0 after Friday's opening day.
Guccione had lost his opening singles to Massu 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/2) before world number 11 Gonzalez eased past Peter Luczak, ranked a lowly 177, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. On Sunday, Guccione will tackle Gonzalez in the opening reverse singles buoyed by having defeated the Chilean in their only previous meeting in a Florida Challenger earlier this year.
However, that was on a hard court not his opponent's preferred clay.
"I beat him before so that should be good for my confidence. But this is his surface so it will be tougher than last time."
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