Victory in the Davis Cup Final would cement Australia's position at the pinnacle of world sport.

By PAUL MACPHERSON.

A Davis Cup Final in any year, let alone the centenary of the competition, holds enormous importance in its own right. When it's been 13 years since your last triumph, and history says you average victory about once every four years, it's another compelling reason to win, especially after losing your past two finals in 1990 and `93.

But the Australia-France Davis Cup Final in Nice from December 3-9 holds even more significance, according to Aussie captain John Newcombe. "We've won world championships in cricket, rugby and netball, and we've got the opportunity to entrench the country at the top of world sport if we can also win the Davis Cup. I sent a fax to (Wallabies' captain) John Eales basically saying that they had the same attitude as us. We've both drawn a line in the sand and said that you're not coming past unless you kill us first."

Australia's team has undergone a host of changes from the combination which claimed a tentative victory over Zimbabwe in the first round in Harare. Pat Rafter's shoulder injury has saved selectors the massive headache of having to overlook either Rafter, Mark Philippoussis or Lleyton Hewitt for a singles berth in the Final. And back-to-back five-set losses by Mark Woodforde and Sandon Stolle makes it easier to reunite the Woodies, who have won their past 10 Davis Cup doubles matches together Australia has used seven players this year and has played in three very different environments (Harare, on an indoor hardcourt, Boston, on an outdoor hardcourt and Brisbane, on grass). It has displayed great depth and versatility to reach the Final. "Not too many countries could do that," Newcombe said. "We started off the year with our best team on paper with Rafter and Philippoussis playing singles and the Woodies playing doubles. We got a little weaker on paper the next match when Lleyton came in to replace Mark in the singles and we didn't have the Woodies playing together Then in our third match against Russia Pat was unavailable so Lleyton was forced to assume the responsibility of being our No.1 player while we brought in Wayne Arthurs for his debut. It says a lot for our boys and the way they've pulled together as a team that we were able to go all the way to the Final given the circumstances we faced."

Philippoussis recently dispelled fears that he would not regain form in time for the Final after his initial sluggish return to the Tour from a lengthy injury lay-off. He ended a series or early-round losses with a quarter final showing at the ATP Tour Mercedes Super 9 event in Paris, where he beat Richard Krajicek and Tim Henman before being stopped by Andre Agassi in the quarters.

The Paris Indoor was also a crucial hit-out for Hewitt. He scored a brilliant three-set win over world No.2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and then gained invaluable experience playing French No.1 Cedric Pioline in front of a partisan Paris crowd. Hewitt was gallant in defeat, saving four consecutive match points in a third-set tiebreak before Pioline won the tiebreak eight points to six.

"I heard that the French crowd got into Lleyton, which is good experience for him," Newcombe said. "I'm glad that happened. One of my concerns is that the crowd will try to sit on Lleyton. We'll be trying to get the boys to focus on two things while they're on the court. One is the match itself, and the other is their team-mates on the bench. We've got to shut out what's happening around us and stay zeroed in on the match and to look over to the bench for moral support."

Despite late-season pressure from the likes of Nicolas Escude (who trounced Pioline 6 1, 6-0 en route to the Toulouse title) and Arnaud Di Pasquale (who won the Palermo title on clay), France is expected to assign singles duties to Pioline and Sebastien Grosjean, who have been paired together in the past two Ties In the doubles, Wimbledon semi-finalists Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro, who have reputations as great returners, will take the court, most probably against the Woodies.

"I'm more certain of our singles line-up(Hewitt and Philippoussis) than our doubles line-up, but at this stage I'm thinking of the Woodies for the doubles," Newcombe said. "But I'm also looking at Arthurs and Stolle and some different combinations. Clay is not the Woodies' best surtace.