Dmitry Tursunov put Russia into the Davis Cup final after a tough five-set marathon victory over Andy Roddick gave the hosts an unbeatable 3-1 winning lead over the US here on Sunday.
Tursunov, who lost his only previous meeting with sixth-ranked Roddick at Indianapolis last year, took the tie 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 on his fourth match point after four hours and 50 minutes on the clay at Moscow's Olympic stadium.
It was Russia's first ever win over the US and books a meeting in the December final with Argentina, which beat Australia 5-0 in the other semi-final in Buenos Aires.
And the 25-year-old Tursunov admitted that fear of the wrath of teammate Marat Safin had pushed him to surpass his limits against Roddick.
"Marat would have been terribly angry if I'd lost the match. I won this match more for him than for myself," he said.
"I was in control from the beginning but suddenly lost my nerve," Tursunov said. "It was very hard to come back in the deciding set but I knew I could do it. I'm happy that we won."
Tursunov, who came into the reverse singles as a substitute, started confidently, clinching a 3-0 lead with an early break to lift himself one set up in 35 minutes.
Both players traded breaks in the second set but 22nd-ranked Tursunov powered his way to a 2-0 advantage after 72 minutes.
But Roddick, 24, refused to surrender and reduced the arrears, taking the third set.
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