Germany, May 22 - Australia claimed the World Team Cup title when they overcame Sweden 2-1 in a toughly fought battle here on Saturday. It was only their second victory in seven final appearances, and their first since 1979. The victory earned the team 500,000 dollars with Sweden receiving 320,000 dollars. Jonas Bjorkman put the Swedes in front with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) win over Mark Philippoussis, but Patrick Rafter levelled the tie by beating Thomas Enqvist 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in a battle that stretched to two hours 13 minutes. Rafter then teamed up with Sandon Stolle to defeat Bjorkman and Nicklas Kulti 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the decisive doubles. Bjorkman, who was only called upon to play singles when Thomas Johansson was injured, played a fine all-round game to frustrate his Australian opponent. Philippoussis was always playing catch-up after being broken in the third game, and although he held a point to lead 5-3 in the second set Bjorkman saved himself with an overhead that just clipped the sideline. Philippoussis would have no more opportunities. "I'm really pleased with my performance today," said Bjorkman. "I think I played some very good tennis, especially my returns. I was also very happy with my serve. "That's been my weakness. I don't get as many free points as the other guys do, and both against Greg (Rusedski) and against Mark (Philippoussis) I made a lot of aces. That is one of the keys, because that put the pressure on their serve because they know my returns are good." Rafter had the opportunity to win much more easily than he did. The Australian served for the first set at 5-4, but conceded the next three games. And after levelling the match at one set all he had two points to lead 4-0 in the third before Enqvist rallied. Rafter finally regained the initiative by breaking to lead 5-3, and in the next game a backhand pass on match point left the Swede sprawled on the ground. "There were long rallies and I think there was some good tennis," said Enqvist. "He's probably the fastest player on the tour and he makes you play a lot of balls, but I felt I was playing okay. In these kind of matches the difference that decides who wins is very small." Rafter, who also reached the final in Rome a week ago, proved that although he is a serve and volleyer he can pose a serious threat to anyone when the French Open gets underway on Monday. "It's always good going in on a winning note," he observed. "Today was really encouraging because there was a while I didn't think we'd even be at one-all. "It means a lot to us to win. Team competition is very big in Australia and we really relish something like this. So do the Swedes, and that's why it was such a hard fought match." --=-=-- 