Safin Takes Russia Through

I know it says Safin, but chill, there's something about Nikki and Russian Davis cup


Safin Takes Russia Through
It’s never a matter of simplicity with Russia’s Marat Safin. The Russian star, fresh from adding a second Grand Slam title at the 2005 Australian Open, made things interesting against Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez on Sunday before he single-handedly earned Russia a spot in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas quarterfinals with a hard-fought 76(4) 76(5)16 67(3)64 win over a battling Gonzalez in three hours, 36 minutes at Moscow's Olympic Stadium.Safin’s stirring win gave the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead and Nikolay Davydenko then rounded out the victory with a quick 62 61 dispatching of Chile’s Paul Capdeville in the ensuing dead singles rubber to give Russia a 4-1 victory.The Russians advance to play France or Sweden in the quarterfinal round in July.Safin banged out 20 aces and won two of the three tiebreakers the pair played, and that was the key to the match. Gonzalez competed gamely, serving 18 aces of his own and made a spirited comeback from two sets down to force a decisive fifth set.The capacity Russian crowd cheered Safin on and also threw a few tips his way. “Oh, yes, they were giving me a lot of advice today,” Safin said. “Stay focused!”, “Relax !” and “Flex your knees!” were just a few of the pointers nervous onlookers threw Safin’s way, according to his post-match translation.Safin is a phenomenally talented player who dazzles off-court as well with his command of Russian, Spanish and English. But he looked particularly drained after carrying Russia’s hopes on his back this weekend, helping to earn all three points the Russians needed to win, winning both his singles matches and partnering Mikhail Youzhny to a win in Saturday’s doubles.“I felt a really big relief after because everyone’s happy,” said a weary Safin. “I was not having a great time on the court today. It’s of course easier playing for yourself than playing for your country because I can play much better tennis than [I did] this weekend.”Gonzalez carried an equally large burden with an injured Nicolas Massu held out of the competition.“Coming back from 0-2 down against Marat is too much. He gave me a chance in the third set and I took it but in the fifth I gave him the chance.”“But I think this will help us in the future—especially me,” Gonzalez added. “And I played good tennis here—when I play for Chile I play much better.”But it’s Russia that moves on after an eventful weekend in Moscow and Safin, for one, has a clear preference as to a quarterfinal opponent. “We would prefer to play France because we will be at home,” said the man with a very deserved last word.Related Links

http://www.daviscup.com/news/matchreport.asp?id=13206