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MOSCOW (AP) -Bob and Mike Bryan beat Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in Saturday's Davis Cup semifinal to keep alive the United States' hopes of beating Russia.
The win leaves the Americans trailing 2-1 ahead of Sunday's reverse singles. The winner will face Argentina, which beat Australia 3-0 Saturday, in the final in December.
The top-ranked Bryan brothers have lost only once in 10 Davis Cup matches - in last year's first round against eventual champions Croatia.
Andy Roddick and James Blake lost their singles matches Friday, putting the United States on the verge of elimination on a sluggish clay court at Olympic Stadium. The last time the U.S. rallied from a 2-0 Davis Cup deficit was in 1934 against Australia.
"Andy and James kept coming up to us and saying, 'Give us a chance, give us another shot, let us redeem ourselves.' And that's kind of what we went into the match thinking all the time," Bob Bryan said.
Chasing the first Davis Cup since 1995, the Bryan brothers broke for a 5-3 lead in the first set, with Youzhny surviving two break points before smashing a lob into the net on the third. Bob Bryan served the next game at love to give the Americans the lead.
With Youzhny serving at 3-3 in the second set, the Wimbledon and Australian Open champions rallied from 30-0 down to break. Serving for the set three games later, Bob Bryan fired two aces to put the Americans up 2-0.
They quickly took the lead in the third set, capitalizing on three unforced errors from Tursunov to break the Russians in the opening game. Four straight errors from Tursunov handed the Americans another break in the seventh game and Mike Bryan closed out the match with an ace.
"When we were up two sets love and a break, we stepped on the pedal a little harder, instead of just cruising out the match," Bob Bryan said.
On Friday, Safin justified his selection by Russian coach Shamil Tarpishchev over higher-ranked teammate Nikolay Davydenko by beating Roddick 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Youzhny then defeated James Blake 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Tarpishchev had kept the Americans guessing about who would face the Bryans, and eventually opted for Youzhny and Tursunov as initially planned. It was their second loss in the two Davis Cup matches they have played together.
"The (American) guys played well, and when they're pressing you so hard, it's tough. They served perfectly," said Tursunov, who had trouble with his backhand return after the first set.
Russia, which has not lost at home in 10 years, needs to win one of Sunday's reverse singles matches to secure their first berth in the Davis Cup final since their only title in 2002.
