The Russian Tennis Federation produced a dominant display to win the 2021 Davis Cup by beating Croatia 2-0 in the final on Sunday in Madrid.
The champions claimed a 2-1 semi-final win over Germany to set up a tie with the Croats, who had seen off Novak Djokovic's Serbia by the same scoreline in the final four.
Andrey Rublev started proceedings with a 6-4 7-6 win over surprise package Borna Gojo, leaving it up to US Open champion Daniil Medvedev to produce the goods against Marin Cilic.
The duo could barely be separated in the first set but Medvedev ultimately took the tie-break to prevail 7-6 before a comprehensive 6-2 second-set win handed the RTF the trophy.
Rublev and Aslan Karatsev's doubles encounter with Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic was not played as the RTF won the Davis Cup for the first time since 2006 and only the third time in their history.
Croatia, meanwhile, are waiting for their first triumph since 2018 and have now finished as runners-up twice following their 2016 defeat to Argentina.
Ben Knapton
