Round one 2004

Australia defeated by Sweden 1-4

Adelaide, Australia 6-8 February

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Reigning champion Australia was eliminated from the Davis Cup, defeated by Sweden in this first round tie.

Sweden grabbed an early lead over Australia after a sublime performance by world No.78 Thomas Enqvist. The experienced Swedish Davis Cup player was in dazzling form as he blitzed Australia's Mark Philippoussis 6-3 6-4 6-2 in hot conditions at Memorial Drive. Lleyton Hewitt was hugely impressive in his only match and an early flurry of break points translated into a match-changing break in the ninth game. Relentless in his retrieval, the Australian believed that, in extreme heat, he had weathered the best the debutant Soderling could muster, and so he had.
In a spiky contest on day 2, Bjorkman and Johansson beat the Australian combination of Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 2-6 6-7 (4/7) 7-5 in more than four hours. Their crucial victory gave the Swedish outsiders a 2-1 edge going into Sunday's two final-day reverse singles. It was the first Davis Cup win for the new Swedish pair and ended a winning three-match run by Woodbridge and Arthurs in the team's competition.
On day 3 Sweden took an unassailable three rubbers to one advantage after evergreen Jonas Bjorkman trounced Mark Philippoussis in straight sets. The world No.28 duly delivered in impressive fashion, frustrating the Australian with consistent serving and brilliant ground strokes.