Marat Safin overpowered substitute Jose Acasuso 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in a nerve-racking fifth and decisive rubber to clinch Russia's second Davis Cup title with a 3-2 victory over Argentina on Sunday.
It was Russia's first title celebration at home. They won the 2002 final in Paris and lost to Sweden and the United States in 1994 and 1995.
Asked to compare his feelings to the 2002 victory over France, Safin said: "Both wins are very important for me but this one is probably a bit more special because it happened at home in front of all our fans."
For the Argentines, who also lost the 1981 final to the U.S., defeat was painful.
"I feel sad and bitter today especially because we did everything for victory," Argentina captain Alberto Mancini said.
"But I'm proud of every member of the team. They all left everything on the court."
Argentine number one David Nalbandian had overwhelmed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the first reverse singles on Sunday 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 time out to treat his right foot at the end of the fifth game.
Acasuso 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 U.S. Open champion broke to love in the eighth game to take the set.
WILD CELEBRATIONS
With no breaks of serve in the fourth set, Safin, urged on by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the rest of the 10,000-strong home crowd, won a tiebreaker 7-5 to secure victory after two hours 50 minutes and spark wild celebrations by the hosts.
"I think my experience of being in this type of situation was the key to today's victory," said Safin, who received a big hug from Yeltsin and was tossed in the air by his jubilant team mates, rekindling memories of their 2002 celebrations in Paris.
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."
Mancini defended his decision to play Acasuso instead of Chela, who lost in four sets to Davydenko on Friday before Nalbandian beat Safin in straight sets.
"(Acasuso) was fresh and ready to play and his game was also better suited for Safin. Those are the two things that I took into consideration," said Mancini, adding that Russia's doubles win by Safin and Tursunov on Saturday was the decisive factor in their victory.
"Yes, the doubles match was the key to the tie," he said. "If we had won on Saturday, coupled with David's great form, it would have given us almost 80 percent of winning the tie. It was a big, big point for them."
His Russian counterpart Shamil Tarpishchev agreed.
"It was a big point but we weren't counting on winning the doubles, we surprised even ourselves," he said.
Davydenko, who married his long-time girlfriend Irina Vasina last Saturday, added: "All's well that ends well. I'm particularly happy because Marat saved my skin after I lost to Nalbandian.
"It was my first Davis Cup title as Marat and Mikhail (Youzhny) both won in 2002 so I'm just on cloud nine," added Davydenko. "This has been the best week of my life."
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