Safin savours Davis Cup win

Marat Safin believes his greater level of experience was the decisive factor in his victory over Jose Acasuso which earned Davis Cup glory for Russia.

The Russians clinched a 3-2 overall triumph against Argentina on Sunday, with Safin's 6-3 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5) win over Acasuso securing the salad bowl-shaped trophy for the hosts.

Safin has been plagued by knee injuries for the best part of two years and was somewhat surprised to be given the opportunity to see his country home. "It was a really tough fifth match," he said. "I was actually expecting Davydenko to win because he's playing pretty well on this surface but unfortunately he couldn't make it."

"Our captain couldn't decide who to put in the final match - [Dmitry] Tursunov or me and eventually he decided to put me in," Safin added.

"I am struggling with my knees and my toes because the surface is pretty hard and I'm pretty tall and pretty old!"

Safin, 26, responded to his captain's call and was thrilled to see off the challenge of 24-year-old Acasuso.

"The fifth match for me was a lot of pressure but it came out pretty well," the former world number one continued.

"I think we made a lot of unforced errors but we tried to play our best game because otherwise I had no chance of beating Jose Acasuso."