MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Mark Philippoussis gave Australia its 28th Davis Cup title Sunday, fighting off a shoulder injury that nearly forced him to retire after the fourth set to beat Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0.

Philippoussis gave Australia a 3-1 lead in the best-of-five competition on the temporary grass court at Rod Laver Arena.

“This is incredible,” Philippoussis said. “At the end I was just completely numb. It felt like I wasn’t playing, I was sort of watching from the side. I didn’t know what was going on.”

Thank God those shots were going in.”

In the opening singles matches Friday, Hewitt gave Australia a 1-0 lead with a five-set victory over Ferrero, and Moya beat Philippoussis to it. Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge beat the Spanish pair of Alex Corretja and Feliciano Lopez in straight sets Saturday to give Australia a 2-1 lead.

AP-ES-11-29-03 2239EST