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Safin clinches Russia's second Davis Cup victory

MOSCOW, December 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia leads the Davis Cup Nations Ranking for the first time, after Marat Safin clinched Russia's second Davis Cup victory, defeating Argentina's Jose Acasuso in front of a Moscow crowd.

Russia finished with a 3-2 victory over Argentina, who move up to second place in the rankings.

Safin, a former world No.1, served 16 aces Sunday to defeat Acasuso 3:1 (6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6) in the decisive fifth rubber of the three-day cup final, after Argentina's No.1 David Nalbandian equalized in the fourth rubber, beating Russia's top player and world No.3, Nikolai Davydenko, in four sets.

"I'm happy to win in front of my home fans," said Safin, who had lost to Nalbandian at the Olympic Stadium on Friday. "I felt 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 long."

The title is Russia's second in five years, but it's first on home soil, where it lost the 1994 final to Sweden and the 1995 final to the United States, before its long unbeaten home record.

In 2002, the Russian team shocked French fans in Paris by winning the competition, coming back from 1-2 down after the first two days of competition.

In the 2005 Davis Cup, Russia reached the semifinals, but failed to advance into the final, losing to Croatia 2:3.