Davis Cup Tied 1-1; Williams Down a Set in Court Case

"I played great, and I won a lot of points with my mind here," said Nalbandian, who'd you think was playing a home tie in Moscow, talking to reporters. "The people here..it's amazing. You play every single point thinking about them. It's amazing. I love them."

Safin didn't forge any team unity on Friday, putting in a moody and dejected performance, arguing with Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev about the quality and choice of surface during the match, apologizing in his post-match conference, and saying Nalbandian will also probably beat Davydenko if he puts in a similar performance to Friday.

"If [Nalbandian] plays the way he played today on the third day, he's in great shape, it will be extremely hard for Nikolay Davydenko to beat him," Safin said.

Former president Boris Yeltsin was among the celebrity supporters cheering for the Russians.

While Safin walked around with a black cloud over his head, a determined Nalbandian was readying himself to send another message in the Saturday doubles, and in the clincher on Sunday.

"I will play tomorrow," Nalbandian said. "I will be ready for Saturday and Sunday. This is just the beginning."

The scheduled pairings for the Saturday doubles, subject to change, are Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny for Russia against the Argentines Calleri and Nalbandian.

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To be honest, I think they're all overpaid. "They need to come into the real world and stop making it such a big issue...they need to stop this crap and live in the real world. They're getting paid a million dollars for winning a tournament and they are moaning."Then you hear someone like Venus saying (he puts on a squeaky voice): 'I don't want to mention boycott', but, you know, this is someone who came from the slums in Los Angeles...come on!"...Jelena Dokic speaking with Sportski Zurnal on her wacky dad Damir saying she's been kidnapped: "Of course I haven't been kidnapped, that's complete nonsense. I've been listening to so much rubbish from my father. I need to say this to protect my boyfriend because he has never interfered either with my private life or with my tennis. I don't speak to my father at all any more. I rarely talk to my mum too, over the phone. 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