The Davis Cup title went down to a fifth match Sunday in Moscow before Marat Safin helped his country claim its first title on Russian soil with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Argentina's Jose Acasuso. Russia won the Cup 3-2.

Safin, a two-time Grad Slam winner who lost his singles match Friday, had to face Acasuso -- a substitute for Juan Ignacio Chela. 

Safin won the first set easily, lost the second set, came back to take the third set, then held on for tense fourth-set tiebreaker.

"I was sure Acasuso would play, and I was sure Marat would beat him," said Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev. "Marat is a fighter. He has experience and knows well what to do and when to do it to reach his goal. That's what Acasuso lacks."

Safin was less confident.

"There were some very difficult moments today. It was tough to control the match. "Everything worked out, thank God," he said. "I was under pressure and I was pretty scared. I didn't want to let this cup go away."

Argentina captain Alberto Mancini stood by his decision to replace Chela with Acasuso, who had not yet played in the final and was unbeaten in his four previous Davis Cup matches this year.

"Jose was really fresh ... and I thought his game was better to face Safin," he said.

David Nalbandian did his best to claim it for Argentina, beating Safin in straight sets Friday and winning over Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the first reverse singles match Sunday to force the decisive showdown.

"I wasn't nervous in the locker room, but when I got out onto the court it was a totally different story -- I froze up," said Davydenko. "When you tighten up, your muscles lose feeling and you wonder how to play tennis."

Boris Yeltsin, a die-hard tennis fan at 75 who was president when Russia lost two straight finals at home in the 1990s, was in the crowd all three days. He had to be helped to his seat Sunday but walked to the court smiling to congratulate Safin following the win.

(Xinhua News Agency via Agencies December 4, 2006)