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MOSCOW - Marat Safin overpowered Argentine substitute Jose Acasuso 6-3 3-6 6-3 7-6 in a nerve-racking fifth and decisive rubber to clinch the Davis Cup title for Russia this morning (NZ time).
Russia, undefeated at home since the 1995 final, beat Argentina 3-2 to win their second Davis Cup following their triumph in 2002 in Paris.
Argentine number one David Nalbandian had overwhelmed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-2 4-6 6-4 in the first reverse singles to level the three-day final at Moscow's Olympic arena at 2-2.
In the decider, Safin secured the first set with a single break of serve but Acasuso, who replaced Juan Ignacio Chela in the Argentine line-up for the reverse singles, returned the favour in the second set by breaking the former world number one in the sixth game.
The big Russian nudged ahead once again in the third set but the 24-year-old Argentine, who made his Davis Cup debut earlier this year, fought back after taking a medical time-out to treat his right foot at the end of the fifth game.
Acasuso regained his composure after a short break and won a long rally after a great defensive display, hitting a shot between his legs to the delight of several hundred noisy Argentine supporters including former soccer World Cup-winning captain Diego Maradona.
Safin would not be denied, however, as the former Australian and US Open champion broke to love in the eighth game to take the third set.
With no breaks of serve in the fourth set, Safin, urged on by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the rest of the partisan, 10,000-strong home crowd, won a tiebreaker 7-5 to secure victory after two hours 50 minutes and start wild celebrations by the hosts.
Safin conceded, however, that if the match had gone into a fifth set he probably would have lost.
"I must say that we had some doubts who to play in the last match, me or Dmitry Tursunov," said the Russian, who fired 16 aces to Acasuso's six.
"I've had pain in my heel and now my legs are almost dead, so if we had to play the fifth set I probably would not have lasted for long."
- REUTERS
