PARIS, Dec 1: World number three Marat Safin battered France’s Sebastien Grosjean to a 6-3 6-2 7-6 (13-11) defeat, bringing Russia level at 2-2 in the Davis Cup final on Sunday with one singles to play.

The Frenchman managed to match the giant Russian only in the third set when, with Safin visibly tiring after three long matches in three days, they fought out a thrilling tiebreak offering Safin three matchpoints and Grosjean four setpoints.

Safin, 16 centimetres taller than his French opponent, opened up with heavy forehands and crashing first serves from the first point on the clay surface to break Grosjean immediately.

The 22-year-old from Moscow, encouraged by a fist-pumping Boris Yeltsin, showed a particular appetite for Grosjean’s second serve and he won the set on his third set point after breaking the French again in the ninth game.

The second set initially followed a similar script with Safin breaking Grosjean’s serve in the fourth game by pressuring his second serve and keeping him scampering along the baseline.

But Grosjean broke back immediately after Safin netted a simple volley winner at the net and then offered up a poor second serve on break point.

Joy among the 14,000 French fans was short-lived, however. A string of unforced errors from Grosjean gave Safin a 4-2 lead and two games later the home favourite’s serve was broken again to put Russia in command.

Grosjean saved three breakpoints on his serve in the second game before taking a 2-1 lead as Safin’s serve began to show wear and tear, perhaps caused by tiredness — the Russian had played nine sets of tennis on the first two days.

Safin broke back immediately. Two more breaks of service followed and Grosjean was forced to serve to save the match at 5-4.

At 30-15 a Grosjean drop shot appeared to be out but was given in and Safin picked up a warning from the umpire for his vociferous complaints.

The tiebreak was a nerve-tingling affair for both teams as first Grosjean earned three setpoints in a row before Safin forced his first matchpoint with a sharp volley on the line.

The Frenchman saved that one with a backhand volley and saved another at 11-10, before Safin finally claimed victory after three hours five minutes.—Reuters