Safin soars high, hands on clay

Marat Safin gave Russia a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup final against champions France when he beat debutant Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6...

Marat Safin gave Russia a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup final against champions France when he beat debutant Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Friday.

The world No.3, U.S. Open champion in 2000, used his greater experience of the big occasion to douse the exuberant shot-making of his 20-year-old opponent who was outplayed for much of the final two sets.

The match, played in front of French President Jacques Chirac on his 70th birthday and former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, rarely caught fire as the two slugged it out from the baseline on the indoor clay court at Paris’s Bercy stadium.

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Only in the final stages did Safin’s concentration waver as he wasted his first match point with a double fault before winning the match on his second with a powerful first serve.

In the second singles Yevgeny Kafelnikov will play Sebastien Grosjean. Kafelnikov, life Safin a former world No.1, has said he will retire if Russia win their first Davis Cup title here.

Mathieu was given his Cup debut in place of Arnaud Clement, who is suffering from tendinitis in the wrist, in a gamble which failed for captain Guy Forget, bidding for France’s 10th title in their third final in four years.

In their previous two finals, in 1994 and 1995, Russia lost their opening singles.