The thin blue line that marked out the 1992 Olympic marathon path runs uphill past the Palau Sant Jordi where Spain claimed their long overdue first Davis Cup final win yesterday when Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Australia's Lleyton Hewitt 62 7-6 4-6 6-4 to give his side a decisive 3-1 lead.

That line is a little faded and blurred now, but it still brings back vivid memories of the toughest-ever Olympic marathon finish.

The Australians might well have given it a sideways glance in the morning, for having lost Saturday's pivotal doubles, with Alex Corretja and Juan Balcells beating Sandon Stolle and Mark Woodforde 64 6-4, 6-4, they faced a marathon of their own if they were to cling on to the trophy they won last year, for the 27th time, in Nice.

They had the right man in Hewitt, a long-distance runner if ever there was one, but that doubles defeat had significantly shifted both the balance of this enthralling final and Spanish expectations.

There were two men called Juan Carlos in the arena; the King of Spain, and the 20-year-old Ferrero, who suddenly had it upon his shoulders to lift his country on to a tennis throne that they had twice stood at the foot of in 1965 and 1967, only to be denied by Australia.

With so many players in the world top 100, it was only a matter of time before Spain finally claimed the Davis Cup, the game's leading team competition, and this year the draw had given them a chance of home matches throughout.

They defeated Italy, Russia, and the United States in the earlier rounds and their 3-1 victory over Australia, the fifth dead rubber not being played, saw them become only the 10th nation in the competition's 101-year history to win the trophy.

The passionate atmosphere was wonderful throughout. True the Australians whinged like Poms about the theatrical antics of the Spanish coach, Javier Duarte and the over-exuberance of the crowd, but these were only to be expected in a Latin country on the verge of winning for the first time, and it was all very jolly.

A caucus of reactionary British newspapers, some of whom regularly pedal anti-European propaganda attempted to blow up the incidents out of all proportion, claiming the crowd's behaviour was a disgrace.

There are those, of course, who still call the sport lawn tennis, expect everybody to play in white, and all matches to be conducted in silence. The fact that Hewitt, who has a few attitude problems of his own, described the Spanish fans as being of "a pretty poor standard" was a clear instance of the pot calling the kettle black. Obviously, behaviour of players and fans alike must not be allowed to get out of hand, but this was a gloriously vibrant encounter of the sort too often missing on tennis's world circuit. For once it felt like a proper sport.

Hewitt, who had given Australia the lead in the opening match, a marathon five-setter, experienced the high and lows of Davis Cup tennis, but it was fitting the fate of the trophy was decided by two of the youngest and most gifted talents in the game.

Ferrero, a year older than Hewitt, and ranked five places lower at No 12, seems certain to have many more battles with the fiery Australian.

But his was a win Ferrero will never forget. Hewitt, who has been suffering a mystery stomach complaint for a number of months, gave it everything he had. Had he capitalised on a 5-3 lead in the fourth set, the scales might have shifted, although Ferrero's forehand was ultimately the decisive weapon.

John McEnroe lost two match points, his title, his temper and much of his dignity when he lost to Pat Cash 6-7, 7-5 and by 14-12 in a champions' tie-break in the final of the Honda Challenge in the Royal Albert Hall yesterday.

The tennis was excellent and the contest the best of the week, but it was McEnroe's mouth which once more captured the attention.

He screamed at line decisions, lectured officials, swore at one line judge and told the umpire to shut up.

The Royal Albert Hall on a Sunday afternoon has probably never heard anything quite like this and eventually a line judge walked across the court to the umpire to complain. McEnroe was then given a code violation warning.