Safin the Hero in Russian Davis Cup Triumph

Posted on December 4, 2006

Safin Clinches Davis Cup for Russia in 5th Match

David Nalbandian's heroics came up short for Argentina Sunday as Marat Safin beat Jose Acasuso in the fifth and deciding match to claim the 2006 Davis Cup title for Russia.

In the opening match Sunday Nalbandian stunned the Moscow crowd, feeding off the energy of the visiting Argentine fans to post a 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over Nikolay Davydenko, leveling the tie at 2-2.

"Davis Cup is totally different, great, amazing," Nalbandian told reporters regarding the atmosphere. "It's very different. [The regular ATP] circuit, it's not like this. I mean, the crowd, the people, the atmosphere, it's not like this."

Both men began the match nervously, but Nalbandian loosened up while Davydenko got caught up in the moment, admitting he choked.

"I felt kind of frozen," Davydenko said. "Before I went onto the court, I was okay mentally. When I stepped on the court, I felt jittery. I was not relaxed. I felt like my muscles wouldn't obey me. I lost the sense of the ball. I was thinking, 'How can I play tennis possibly?' Truth to be said, I never felt anything like that. I was never so jittery, so insecure, so un-confident. I'm not nervous when I play individual matches."

The No. 26-ranked Safin was then left to defend Russian home turf against No. 27 Jose Acasuso, who led their career head-to-head 2-1 -- but those two wins were on clay. On the Moscow indoor carpet, Safin proved too strong and experienced, narrowly keeping Acasuso from extending it to a fifth set with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) win.

"We both tried to play our best game because otherwise we had no chance," said Safin, chosen over Dmitry Tursunov to play the decider. "I had no chance to beat Chucho Acasuso because he was playing great tennis, serving well and pretty solid from the baseline. It was a big tournament for him, a big final, and unfortunately lack of experience was the key here in important moments."

Acasuso was likewise emotional and conflicted after the match.

"I'm sad for having lost," Acasuso said. "I'm sad because I gave it a hundred percent. I showed a great level of game. It didn't work for us. On the one hand I feel sad because we did everything, we were so close to it. On the other hand, I'm happy with the way I played today."

Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev again looked like the genius with his choices during the weekend, especially choosing Safin even after the big Russian's poor play on Friday.

"What spoke in favor of Marat was the expertise he had in such matches," said Tarpischev, who collected Russia's second Cup trophy after 2002. "He went through all the trials and tribulations in his career. He had more expertise. It was clear to me that he could be playing a bit worse or a bit better, but he can't just fail in such kind of match...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."