What started as a dramatic weekend of tennis at Luzhniki Sports Palace this weekend came to an early end on Saturday, with the Russians winning the doubles match, setting the score at 3-0 and leaving the Swedes with no chance of victory.

Saturday's exhausting three-hour and 38-minute match between Russia's stars Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Swedes Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman could have gone either way, with Sweden dominating the fourth set but Russia coming back in the fifth.

"We were both fully motivated for this match and gave it 100 percent," Kafelnikov, ranked fourth in the world, told reporters. "We fully understood that if we won the doubles, then that would be it, finished."

The exhausted Swedes said they were upset by the loss. "It feels very disappointing," Johansson said. "We felt that maybe we were the better team in the four sets, but then in the fifth, they stepped it up a little bit."

On Friday, Safin avenged his loss against Johansson at the Australian Open in Melbourne earlier this year. The defeat had prompted some to question the hotheaded Muscovite's chances of victory. But the seventh-ranked Safin overcame his opponent in straight sets. The victory paved the way for his teammate Kafelnikov, who blew past Thomas Enqvist 7-6, 6-3, 6-1, setting the score at 2-0.

Russia's next challenge will be against 10th-ranked Argentina, which defeated Croatia 3-2 on Sunday. The match will most likely be on carpet, faster than the red clay Russia has been playing on, but perhaps a challenge for the Argentines, as well, who are said to prefer clay. Organizers have also expressed a preference for holding the event at Luzhniki, rather than the Davis Cup's traditional home at the Olympiisky Sports Complex.

If Russia wins, it will become the 11th country to hold the title, but the victory would have extra significance for 28-year-old Kafelnikov, who has said he may retire. "You think I'm joking about retiring from tennis, but I'm serious," he told reporters on Saturday. Overall, there is little doubt in the media about his plans to retire. Kafelnikov is known to follow a punishing schedule, playing numerous tournaments; plus, his personal life has fallen apart following his recent divorce from his wife.

His retirement would certainly be a disappointment for Russian tennis fans, who filled the 13,000-capacity arena on Friday and Saturday to cheer for the high-profile home-team. But the sell-out crowd was absent for Sunday's lame-duck matches. With Safin recovering from festivities the night before and Kafelnikov conspicuously absent, Russia's captain Shamil Tarpishchev, celebrating his 50th Davis Cup match, set No. 75 ranked Mikhail Yuzhny against Johansson.

The match gave Sweden its only victory of the weekend, with Johansson overpowering his outclassed opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, making the score 3-1.

Andrea Vinciguerra clearly had the chance to further Sweden's score after winning his first set against Andrei Stolyarov, but called for a doctor before the start of the third and retired, complaining of a re-aggravated back injury. "It hurts when I bend and turn," he told reporters.

The home crowd cheered hard for the underdogs, despite their poor performances, urging them on with cheers, waves and chants of "Misha! Misha!" for Yuzhny and spelling out "S-T-O-L-Ya-R-O-V!" for his teammate. The players responded in kind by taking the time to sign autographs after the match.