Hosts the United States snatched their 32nd Davis Cup title, the first in 12 years, when their doubles due Bob and Mike Bryan sealed the victory for their country with a 3-0 lead over defending champions Russia in the best-of-five final on Saturday in Portland, Oregon.

 

World number one pair the Bryan twins subdued their rivals Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev with a score of 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-2, giving their team the third and deciding point of the final.

 

On Friday, the top two singles from the hosts Andy Roddick and James Blake had delivered the United States a 2-0 lead when Roddick topped Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and Blake edged Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3).

 

It's the first champion for the United States since their triumph over Russia in Moscow in 1995 and they extended their leading title records to 32 in the annual international competition, the most titles won in history.

 

Australia now ranks second with 28 victories in Davis Cup while France and Britain rank third with nine titles apiece to their belt.

 

The Bryans met strong resistance in the first set from Davydenko and Andreev, who were playing together for the first time since April. Neither team surrendered a service break in the set, but in the tie-breaker the Bryans took six of the seven points as they were left behind at 3-1.

 

In the following two sets, the Bryans gave no chances to their rivals to break their serving games, breaking the Russians in the opening game of the second and their second and fourth game in the third set.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2007)