While Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic were winning their singles and losing the mixed doubles against qualifiers France, on an adjacent court Ferreira was unable to begin South Africa's deciding doubles match against Zimbabwe.

Australia's 2-1 win over the French was eventually enough to assure them their first title match here since the inaugural edition of 1989.

Dokic, a rising talent at age 15, beat Sandrine Testud 6-1 6-3. The Frenchwoman was not at full fitness for the contest, which thrilled a sell-out crowd. Philippoussis continued the wins by stopping Guillaume Raoux 6-1 6-2.

Earlier, Martina Hingis showed she's serious about stealing the Number 1 ranking back from Lindsay Davenport with a 6-3 5-7 6-2 victory to help Switzerland beat US 2-1. Hingis and Ivo Heuberger defeated Davenport and Jan-Michael Gambill 6-36-3 in the decider.

Lindsay offer for Becker

DOHA: Lindsay Davenport today offered Boris Becker a return to Wimbledon once more by playing mixed doubles with her. ``It would be a great way for Boris to quit playing for good with a Wimbledon title,'' a Doha-based English daily quoted her as saying. Lindsay was waiting for Becker to call her on the issue, the report said.