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Hewitt puts Australia up 1-0 in Davis Cup final

MELBOURNE, Australia - Lleyton Hewitt beat Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 this morning to give Australia a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup final.

"All my thoughts were to try to get Australia off to a great start," said Hewitt, playing his first tennis match in more than two months. "I'm glad I did."

Hewitt shut out Ferrero in the fourth-set tiebreaker, broke serve in the first game of the fifth set and dominated the rest of the way.

Australia's Mark Philippoussis faced Carlos Moya in the second singles match.

The matches got off to a controversial start when the wrong Spanish national anthem was played.

Juan Antonio Gomez-Angulo, Spain's sports minister, waved furiously and yelled from the stands as the pre-civil war republican anthem was played. He said the error was an insult to the Spanish players, delegation and nation.

Australian captain John Fitzgerald apologized to the crowd after learning of the mistake, and the correct anthem was played.

SUN CITY, South Africa - Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry shot 7-under-par 65 Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Ernie Els, who has won three of the past four years, had 72 for a 16th-place tie in the 18-player field. The South African failed to break par for the first time in 29 rounds in the event.

Chris DiMarco, Adam Scott, Robert Allenby and Darren Clarke opened with 66, and Stuart Appleby and Jerry Kelly had 67.

DiMarco was hurt by a double bogey on the par-4 eighth but birdied eight of the final 10 holes.

"I was very unhappy walking to that ninth tee, I can promise you," DiMarco said.

Perry played a quietly efficient round. He finished the par-36 front nine in 31 and had two more birdies on the back nine.

Singh, the PGA Tour money champion, was among 15 players in the field who played at last weekend's Presidents Cup, which ended in a tie.

"I think this is much more relaxed," he said. "It's only you to play. So when something goes wrong, you don't have to apologize to a partner."

JAPAN TOUR: Sophie Gustafson became the first woman to play in a tour event, shooting 2-over-par 74 in the first round of the Casio World Open in Kaimon. The four-time LPGA Tour winner had two birdies and four bogeys.

The Red Sox negotiated with Curt Schilling over the holiday as the sides approached today's deadline for a contract extension that would convince the Arizona right-hander to waive his no-trade clause. "Talks will continue probably up to the end of the 72-hour window," Boston president Larry Lucchino said. Schilling did not return a call seeking comment but his spokeswoman, Katie Leighton, said she did not expect him to have an announcement before today.

Although organizers have said they do not want Athens to resemble an armed camp, IOC president Jacques Rogge said the bombings in Turkey could prompt tougher security measures during the Games. They could include changing the international route for the torch relay.

Swimmer Amy Van Dyken, the only American woman to win four gold medals at one Olympics, testified before the federal grand jury that is investigating Balco Laboratories and its president, Victor Conte Jr. Van Dyken's agent and attorney, Rob Nelson, confirmed she appeared in San Francisco court Nov.13 - the same day as track star Marion Jones and five NFL players. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency alleges Conte is the producer of tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG. The drug, a synthetic form of the male sex hormone testosterone, reportedly has been discovered in urinalysis of five track athletes and four Oakland Raiders.

Former world champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov led the pairs at the NHK Trophy in Asahikawa, Japan, despite stopping their routine because of a loose strap. Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. of the United States were third. In ice dancing, Bulgarians Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski led after the compulsory dance. The U.S. team of Loren Galler-Rabinowitz and David Mitchell was seventh. The women's and men's programs begin today.

U.S. striker Clint Mathis will try out with the Scottish power Rangers, one of several clubs interested in him. The free agent left the MetroStars this month, wanting to explore opportunities in Europe before deciding whether to re-sign with Major League Soccer.

Lead Story beat Mayo on the Side by 61/4 lengths in the Grade II $334,200 Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs. Lead Story, ridden by Calvin Borel, covered the 11/8 miles on a sloppy track in 1 minute, 51.23 seconds. ... Tenpins is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in a field of 14 for the 129th running of the 11/8-mile $500,000 Clark Handicap today at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Pat Day will ride the 5-year-old Tenpins, who has finished first or second in 13 of 15 career starts.