Sydney: Stanislas Wawrinka was within one game of beating Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and sending Switzerland into next year's elite Davis Cup World Group when play was suspended due to fading light on Sunday on the grass courts at Royal Sydney Golf Club.
Wawrinka led Hewitt 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 5-3 when officials stopped play until 11 AM on Monday (0100 GMT). Hewitt will be serving to stay in the match.
Earlier on Sunday, Roger Federer defeated Bernard Tomic 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to pull Switzerland level at 2-2 after Australia won Saturday's doubles and the teams split the opening singles on Friday.
Australian team captain Pat Rafter, a two-time US Open singles champion, wanted the match to be suspended early in the second set, and was seen complaining with the tournament referee on several occasions.
"You are always fighting with the umpire and I don't want to get upset with him," Rafter said. "But if you don't, the referee will obviously just get what he wants, so I feel like I've got to make a point."
Federer also said the match could have been suspended earlier.
"It's a tough call," Federer said. "I've lost some big matches in the past due to darkness and I always have the feeling that referees leave it a bit too late. They try to squeeze in another couple of games so should they have stopped at two-all (in the fifth set)? Probably, that's my guess."
Rafter had an earlier verbal altercation with the chair umpire, Alexandre Juge, for failing to turn off a let-cord alarm that went off at the wrong times.
"Take it off now or I'll rip the bloody thing off," Rafter told Juge.
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