Comes back from the opening singles defeat and wins both his matches to lead his country to a second Davis Cup triumph.
MOSCOW: The 2002 Davis Cup winners Russia won their second trophy here on Sunday after Marat Safin beat Argentina’s Jose Acasuso in the deciding rubber of the final. The former Australian Open and US Open champion won 6-3 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5) in 2hr 50min for a hard-fought victory, breaking the curse of their home courts, where Russia had lost both of their previous Davis Cup finals - to Sweden in 1994 and to the United States in 1995.
Safin, 26, who won only one of his previous three meetings with Acasuso, came out firing, breaking his rival’s first service game to move ahead 3-0, which proved enough to serve out the first set in 30 minutes. In the second the 24-year-old Argentine bounced back to break Safin’s serve in the sixth game and level at one set all.
Spurred by a capacity 11,000 home crowd Safin’s confidence seemed to return in the third set and he broke twice to Acasuso’s once to take a 2-1 lead. The fourth was a tight affair that was finally decided by a tiebreak, with Safin edging it 7-5 after some brilliant back court defence was followed by Acasuso netting a forehand as he moved up the court. That sent the partisan home fans into rapturous applause.
Earlier on Sunday world number eight David Nalbandian of Argentina beat Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-2 4-6 6-4 in two hours 39 minutes to level the scores at 2-2.
With Russia taking a 2-1 lead after Saturday’s doubles rubber, the 24-year-old Nalbandian had no choice but to step up to the plate and deliver to keep his country in contention. He started confidently, breaking his rival’s serve early for a 4-1 lead in the first set.
Davydenko, currently ranked third in the world, fought back but was ultimately undone by a series of unforced errors, allowing Nalbandian to break again in the eighth game to earn a one-set lead.
The second set was a carbon copy of the first. Nalbandian broke again in the fourth and eighth games to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}