Australia’s Davis Cup team is just one win away from returning to the top-flight after defeating Germany in the doubles in Hamburg.

Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione’s 6-3 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over Philipp Petzschner and Benjamin Becker at Rothenbaum Stadium handed Australia a 2-1 lead before Sunday’s reverse singles.

Bernard Tomic takes on Florian Mayer at 11.30am (1930 AEST) on Sunday with Petzschner expected to replace Cedrik-Marcel Stebe as Hewitt’s opponent in the later match.

Australia must win one of the two singles rubbers to return to the elite World Group for the first time since 2007, having lost playoff ties in four of the past five years.

The win pushed Guccione’s Davis Cup doubles record to 7-0 and the Australian pair’s numbers to 4-0.

The big red head was the only player not to drop serve in the two hour and 31 minute contest.

After being hammered in the singles on the opening day by Mayer, Hewitt was highly animated even by his standards as Australia dominated the early exchanges.

He roared “Come on” as early as the fourth game as the Australians piled the pressure on Becker in the German’s first doubles match in Davis Cup.

Becker’s serve crumbled and the visitors had raced out to a two-set lead just after the hour mark.

With a demolition on the cards, the home team lifted and broke Hewitt’s serve twice to force the match to a fourth set.

The Australians claimed an early break to stem the flow but at 4-3, the Germans peppered a Hewitt service game and eventually broke him on the seventh break point.

A tie-breaker was required and the Australians prevailed with Hewitt jumping into Guccione’s arms after winning match point.