France close in on title

Fabrice Santoro and Nicolas Escude have pushed France to within one victory of a successful Davis Cup title defence by beating Russian duo Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a five-set thriller.

Playing before 15,000 fans in Bercy, Santoro and Escude trailed by two sets to one but fought back to claim a 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-4 win in the doubles.

Russia, twice finalists but never Davis Cup champions, must now win both singles rubbers tomorrow to take the title.

Safin, who beat Davis Cup debutant Paul-Henri Mathieu in yesterday’s opening match, will open proceedings against Sebastien Grosjean and this will be followed by Mathieu against Kafelnikov.