Mark Philippoussis 6-3 6-3 6-3 Alan Mackin
Lleyton Hewitt 7-5 6-1 6-2 Alex Bogdanovic

Hewitt needed to show some of his best form

Australia took a 2-0 lead after the first day of the Davis Cup tie against Great Britain.

Mark Philippoussis beat Scotland's Alan Mackin in the first match of the day before world number one Lleyton Hewitt overpowered teenager Alex Bogdanovic.

The comfort for Britain's Davis Cup captain Roger Taylor was the promise that 18-year-old Bogdanovic showed in the early stages against Hewitt.

He started nervously but had a chance to go 5-2 up before Hewitt hit back to win the first set 7-5.

The second set was much more straightforward for the Wimbledon champion, who secured successive breaks against his demoralised opponent to take it 6-1.

I realise I may be (ranked) 450 but I gave him a good first set and he came out with good shots that really showed that he was number one Alex Bogdanovic

In the final set, Bogdanovic once again managed to gain a break on the Hewitt serve, but that merely served to irritate the Australian, who produced a series of searing winners.

In the first match, Philippoussis, nicknamed 'Scud', was too strong and skilled for his plucky opponent, who is as unknown in Britain as he is on the world scene.

It was hard going for teenager Bogdanovic

Mackin was never expected to offer too much of a challenge to his opponent, but he managed to break Philippoussis' serve in every set.

But he seldom had the answer to the Australian's massive serve - he produced 13 aces - or his powerful forehand.

Philippoussis opened up the match a 4-2 lead before Mackin forced a break.

It seemed possible that the Scot could get the back on level terms, before a controversial overruled line-call gave Philippoussis a break point which he capitalised on to go 5-3 up.

And the Australian confidently held his serve to win the opening set.

It's been such a long time and playing a tie at home is such a good feeling, so I am really happy Mark Philippoussis

The second set featured both men losing their serve before Philippoussis took a 3-1 lead.

At 5-3 down, Mackin had his serve broken yet again and despite his opponent making a string of unforced errors, the Scot will struggle to avoid a straight sets defeat.

In the final set, Philippoussis once again opened up by winning the first three games as Mackin finally began to look dispirited.

But the 21-year-old raised his game to get back to just 3-4 down.

Philippoussis responded by simply opening his shoulders and hitting the winners which had won him points all through the match.