Substitute Dmitry Tursunov beat Andy Roddick in an epic five-set battle 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 to seal a Russian victory over the United States in Moscow on Sunday and send the home team into the Davis Cup final.
The California-based Russian, who replaced Mikhail Youzhny for the first reverse singles, could barely put a foot wrong, building up a two-set lead before the American fought back in the third and fourth to force the deciding set.
After wasting three match points in the 24th game, Tursunov finally broke Roddick's serve in the 32nd game to clinch a dramatic victory after four hours, 48 minutes.
It was Russia's first victory over their former Cold War adversaries in Davis Cup after losing two previous ties, including the 1995 Moscow final on a similar clay surface.
The Russians will host Argentina in the final in Moscow in December after the South Americans took an unbeatable 3-0 lead against Australia in the other semi-final in Buenos Aires.