Davydenko Evens Russia-France Davis Cup at 1-1

Without former No. 1 Marat Safin who is recovering from knee surgery, Russia was at a disadvantage entering the tie until Sebastien Grosjean pulled out on the opposition's side citing exhaustion.

Davydenko beat historic French choker Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 after France's 19-year-old phenom Richard Gasquet gave the visitors the lead with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(1) win over Russian Igor Andreev.

"I wanted to play solidly from the baseline and make him make the mistakes," Davydenko said, needing six match points to complete the job. "The only time I didn't do that was in the third set, but I re-found my game plan in time to win in three sets."

It was difficult to tell whether stress or injury caused Gasquet to suffer wrist problems during the match, with Gasquet himself pointing to the former, trying to shrug off nerves.

"I had stress cramps in my right wrist," Gasquet said. "I've been thinking of this match for the past 10 days, I've been so keen to play, and I think this can happen. But I'm so pleased to have won, I played nearly a perfect match."

Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra are scheduled to face Andreev and Mikhail Youzhny Saturday in the doubles.