It was meant to be a waltz in the park, but Lleyton Hewitt was forced to do it tough in a 6-4 7-5 triumph over China's world No.421 Wu Di at the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth.
Hewitt, playing his first tournament since re-injuring his foot in September, found himself down 4-2 in the second set against Wu as the little-known right-hander threatened to send the match to a third set.
But Hewitt broke straight back to regain control of the contest, eventually sealing the win in 93 minutes to level the tie at 1-1 after French Open champion Li Na defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3 6-2 earlier in the night.
Australia sealed the tie 2-1 with an 8-5 win in the mixed doubles, which was decided by a pro-set.
France secured a spot in Saturday's final with a win over Spain on Thursday, while the top-seeded Czech Republic can secure their spot with a win over Denmark today.
