Russia take 2-0 lead over Argentina

Yevgeny Kafelnikov fought back from two match-points down to edge past Gaston Gaudio 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 8-6 in an epic four-hour battle to give Russia a 2-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup semi-final on Friday.

Marat Safin had earlier given the home side a 1-0 lead by coming from behind to beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-7, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 in the opening singles match at Moscow's Luzhniki Sports Palace.

The Russians are bidding to clinch their first Davis Cup before Kafelnikov retires at the end of the year.

Kafelnikov, who desperately wants to win the premier team competition in men's tennis before hanging up his racket, faced two match-points at 2-5 down in the fifth set but kept his nerve to claw his way back into the contest.

The 28-year-old finally clinched the rubber with an easy overhead smash after four hours and seven minutes.

"Honestly, I didn't know what was going on after I lost five straight games," said the Russian, who was greeted by the former President Boris Yeltsin after the match.

"In the end I was very fortunate to come away with a victory. Saving two match-points at 2-5 down in the fifth set it's like saving a penalty kick from three metres," he added.

"Boris Yeltsin told me afterwards that I almost gave him his sixth heart attack with my play."

Gaudio himself had earlier overcome a two-sets-to-one deficit before taking charge of the clash by reeling off five straight games to take the 5-2 lead in the deciding set.

SEE-SAW BATTLE

But unfortunately for the Argentine, a determined Kafelnikov was not in a mood to let the opportunity of a 2-0 lead in the tie slip through his fingers and stepped up pace.

The 23-year-old Gaudio also had to fight off a bout of leg cramps in the 12th game but Kafelnikov broke his opponent two games later to finally prevail in a see-saw battle.

"I just couldn't move in the last game of the match," said Gaudio, who thought he had won the match after firing an ace on his first match point only to be overruled by the umpire.

Earlier, Chela had drawn first blood against Safin when he won the opening set tiebreak 7-1 by reeling off seven straight points.

In the second, 22nd-ranked Chela fought off seven break points in the sixth game before the former U.S. Open champion finally broke his opponent in the 12th to level the match at one set all.

Chela saved two set points in the 10th game of the third set to draw level at 5-5, then three more in the 12th game, but former world number one Safin finally clinched it when the Argentine double-faulted on the sixth set point.

Safin raced to a 4-0 lead in the fourth before taking it 6-1 to clinch the opening rubber in just over three hours.

"It was a very difficult match," Safin said. "This is not the most convenient surface (Taraflex indoor carpet) for me.

"Besides, I'm not in top form at the moment, we're playing in front of the home crowd here and there's a lot of pressure on me and Yevgeny.

"I was very nervous before the match, so it wasn't easy by any means."

TURNING POINT

The Russian felt the turning point had come in the eighth game of the third set when he broke Chela to level at 4-4 after losing his serve in the previous game.

"I think this was the key when I broke him right back," Safin said.

"After that I had my confidence back and the fourth set was easy for me."

Chela agreed.

"I have my chances being up 4-3 and leading 40-15 (in the eight game of the third set), but I made two mistakes and he played well the next point," he said. "After that I felt a little dejected and tired in the fourth set."

Safin has put aside the incident on Wednesday night when his new $90,000 BMW was stolen.

"When you are playing a Davis Cup semi-final there is no time to think about a stolen car," he said.

"I doubt they will ever find it, but luckily for me the car was insured, so I'm thinking about which car to buy next."

The winner of this best-of-five semi-final will face either France or the United States in the final which starts on November 29.