MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer beat Mark Philippoussis 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a Wimbledon final rematch Friday to even the Davis Cup semifinal between Switzerland and Australia.

Lleyton Hewitt gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 win over Michel Kratochvil.

On Saturday, Federer and Marc Rosset play Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge in doubles. In Sunday's singles, it's Hewitt vs. Federer and Philippoussis vs. Kratochvil.

The winner will play Argentina or Spain for the Davis Cup title Nov. 28-30.

Philippoussis struggled with his serve as Federer took a 3-0 lead in the first set. After winning the second set, Federer trailed 5-3 in the third but rallied to force a tiebreaker. Federer went up 4-2 in the tiebreaker on a service winner and served out with an ace.

"He fought back and I really had to give everything in the third set,'' said Federer, who beat Philippoussis in straight sets to win Wimbledon. "I wanted to get it over in three because anything can happen if it goes past that.''

Philippoussis said Federer didn't let him into the match.

"He played better on the bigger points,'' Philippoussis said. "I had my chances but let him off. He was never pressured.''

With Aussie bongo drums drowning out the cowbells of red-shirted Swiss fans, Hewitt won the opening set in 45 minutes. His girlfriend, Kim Clijsters, the world's top-ranked women's player, was in the crowd.

Hewitt opened his match by breaking Kratochvil's serve. He broke him again in the third game of the second set and three times more in the third.

"I played really well and was aggressive from the start,'' said Hewitt, who said he had a cold and was happy to get through the match. "My intensity right from the start was pretty high like it has been in every Davis Cup match I've played in the last two years.''

Kratochvil said he didn't take advantage of his opportunities.

"I had a bad beginning and he was always up,'' he said. "And I was always chasing the score.''

Rain forced the arena roof to be closed. The roof briefly reopened between the two singles matches but was closed before the start of the second as cooler weather moved in.