RT.com
06 Dec 2021, 05:15 GMT+10
The Russian tennis federation (RTF) team has won the Davis Cup title for the first time since 2006 after beating Croatia in Sunday's final in Madrid.
The heavily fancied Russian team clinched an unassailable 2-0 lead after Danill Medvedev defeated former US Open champion Marin Cilic in straight sets, 7-6 (9-7) 6-2, in the second singles match of the tie.
Andrey Rublev had set Russia on their way earlier in the day with a hard-fought victory in his singles match against gutsy 23-year-old Croatian Borna Gojo, 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
The results meant the doubles match was rendered irrelevant as Russia took the title home for the first time since they defeated Argentina on home soil in Moscow 15 years ago.
Sunday's final in Spain was the first time a Russian team had reached this stage of the tournament - which is the most prestigious in men's international team tennis - since they faced off against the USA in 2007 in Portland.
Russia have now won the Davis Cup three times in the tournament's illustrious history, with their other titles coming in 2002 against France in Paris as well as their Moscow triumph in 2006.
With Medvedev and Rublev in their ranks - who are rated second and fifth in the world respectively - the Russian team were among the strong favorites heading into this year's 18-nation Davis Cup Finals, where they were formally competing under the banner of the national tennis federation due to ongoing WADA sanctions.
Alongside Medvedev and Rublev were Karen Khachanov and Aslan Karatsev, both top-30 players who played their part in the doubles matches on the way to the title.
En route to the decisive tie of the tournament, the RTF quartet had beaten Ecuador and then hosts and defending champions Spain during the round-robin stage, as well as Sweden in the quarter-finals before overcoming Germany in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Croatia, the 2018 champions, had beaten Novak Djokovic's Serbia in their semi-final but were unable to match the impressive Medvedev and Rublev in the Spanish capital.
The result capped a strong year for Russian men's tennis as Medvedev, 25, won the US Open in September, becoming the first male star from his country to win a Grand Slam title for 16 years.
Compatriot Rublev, 24, ends the year at a career-high ranking of world number five and also scooped Olympic gold in Tokyo in the mixed doubles alongside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, where they beat compatriots Karatsev and Elena Vesnina in the final.
The Russian men's team featuring Medvedev, Rublev, Karatsev and Evgeny Donskoy also won the 2021 ATP Cup held in February in Melbourne.
Russia now holds the most prestigious international team titles in both men's and women's tennis, after Sunday's success in Spain followed the triumph in the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly known as the Fed Cup) by female Russian stars in November.
READ MORE: Russian female tennis stars hail 'unbelievable' cup win (VIDEO)
Russia were crowned women's world champions after beating Switzerland in November. Reuters
Women's star Pavlyuchenkova, 30, went all the way to the women's singles final at the French Open earlier in the year, becoming the first Russian female player to reach that stage of a Grand Slam since Maria Sharapova played Serena Williams in the Australian Open final in 2015.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of New Zealand Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to New Zealand Star.
More InformationGENEVA, Switzerland: The World Health Organization (WHO) has received a proposal by 13 member states requesting that Taiwan be allowed ...
BRUSSELS, Belgium: European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that the bloc would ensure Ukraine that it has ...
Former U.S. President George W. Bush has made an embarrassing mistake in criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin over his decision ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. State Department has announced the launch of a new program to capture and analyze evidence of ...
JAKARTA, Indonesia: A new poll released this week indicated that Indonesian President Joko Widodo's approval rating has hit a six-year ...
EAST JAVA, Indonesia: A tourist bus crashed into a billboard on a highway on Indonesia's main island of Java this ...
SACRAMENTO, California: In another blow to the state's push to diversify corporate leadership, a California court judge has ruled that ...
KATHMANDU, Nepal - According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Nepal has reported its first cases of African ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stock markets reversed sharp losses in late trading to eke out minor gains in ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: U.S. retail sales rose strongly in April, as consumers bought more motor vehicles and spent more at restaurants, ...
LONDON, England: The UK's jobless rate fell to a 48-year low in the first three months of 2022, it was ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - A reduction of the official lending criteria in China has boosted stocks on the mainland, and ...