Russia Wins Davis Cup

Russia won its first Davis Cup title Sunday by rallying to beat defending champion France, 3-2, with the greatest comeback in a final in 38 years.

Substitute Mikhail Youzhny -- a ball boy the last time Russia played in a Cup final -- won the last match in the best-of-five series in Paris. He rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Russia became only the sixth team to win a Cup final after trailing, 2-1. The last was Australia against the United States in 1964.

Youzhny entered the match with a 1-4 record in Cup play. But he was selected to replace two-time Grand Slam tournament champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who was tired after playing singles Friday and doubles Saturday -- losing both. Kafelnikov had said he would retire if Russia won.

That seemed unlikely when France held a 2-1 lead and hoped to continue another trend: The team winning the doubles had won the previous 24 Cup finals.

But Marat Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champion, tied the final by defeating Sebastien Grosjean, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (11), in the first reverse singles match. Then the 32nd-ranked Youzhny fought back to beat Mathieu in a showdown between 20-year-olds.

“Yevgeny was tired after the doubles,” Safin said. “So we decided to put in the young player. Why not?”

Youzhny picked up the last service break in the seventh game of the final set to go up, 4-3, and he won the match by holding serve at love.

Russia lost Cup finals in 1994 and 1995.

France was seeking its 10th Cup title and first consecutive championships since winning from 1927-32. France won last year’s final in Australia.

Winter Sports

Stephan Eberharter won for the third time in four men’s World Cup races this season, capping his weekend by finishing first in a Super-G at Lake Louise, Canada.

Eberharter had a time of 1 minute 23.39 seconds on the 2,410-meter course on Whitehorn Mountain. Austrian teammate Josef Strobl was second in 1:23.57 following a fourth-place finish in the downhill, and Didier Cuche of Switzerland was third in 1:23.76.

“I feel really comfortable,” Eberharter said. “I’m 33 years old, and I have nothing to prove. Maybe that’s why things are going so well at the moment. I can take things easy.”

Eberharter and Strobl opted for downhill skis instead of super-G skis.

“The downhill skis are much harder to turn, and if it’s straight they’re faster,” Strobl said.

Eberharter, last year’s World Cup overall champion, also won a giant slalom last month at Solden, Austria, and a downhill Saturday at Lake Louise.

Teemu Kattilakoski and Sami Jauhojarvi anchored Finnish teams to a 1-2 finish in a World Cup cross-country mixed relay at Kuusamo, Finland.

Kattilakoski helped Finland’s top team finish the 30 kilometers in 1 hour 24 minutes 59.4 seconds.

Jauhojarvi’s No. 2 Finland team finished 0.1 back. Italy was third, 0.4 behind.

A women’s five-kilometer classic-style leg was followed by a men’s 10-kilometer classic, a women’s five-kilometer and a men’s 10-kilometer freestyle.

A Nordic combined sprint event was canceled because of strong winds.

Travis Cabral of the U.S. won the moguls title and American Shannon Bahrke finished second behind Margarita Marbler-Olejnikowa of Austria in the women’s event at a freestyle skiing World Cup meet at Tignes, France.

Golf

Ernie Els shot a course-record nine-under-par 63 for an eight-stroke victory over Colin Montgomerie in the $4.06-million Nedbank Challenge at Sun City, South Africa.

Els, playing in his home country, had nine birdies and finished at 21-under 267 on the 7,743-yard Gary Player Country Club to claim the $2-million first prize, the richest in golf.

“That was possibly one of the great rounds of my career,” said Els, who won the tournament for the third time in four years. “I wasn’t going after 63 when I started.”

Montgomerie, who moved into contention with a third-round 65, had three birdies and an eagle on the back nine, but it wasn’t enough to stop Els.

Chris DiMarco shot a two-under 70 and finished third at 10 under. Jim Furyk closed with a 69 and tied Retief Goosen for fourth at seven under.

Boxing

Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis is planning three fights starting in March, including bouts against Vitaly and Wladimir Klitschko, and a rematch with Mike Tyson.

“I want my fans to know that I am intending to defend my WBC title against Vitaly Klitschko on March 8, 2003,” Lewis told the BBC.

“My negotiating team has a preliminary agreement in place for that fight, as well as fights against Mike Tyson and Wladimir Klitschko in the event that I decide to continue fighting after the Vitaly Klitschko fight.”

Lewis, 37, expects the contract for the bout against Vitaly Klitschko to be finalized within two weeks. Lewis’ manager, Adrian Ogun, said Friday that the site and exact date will be set as soon as possible.

Ogun also said promoters will meet in the next few days with representatives from HBO, which will broadcast the fight, to complete arrangements.

It had been believed that the WBC heavyweight champion from Britain might quit the sport after beating Tyson in the eighth round in June at Memphis, Tenn.

But the BBC reported that Lewis will take on Vitaly Klitschko in March, then give Tyson a rematch and finally face Klitschko’s brother, Wladimir, the WBO titleholder.