The United States captured the Davis Cup on Saturday, dethroning defending champions Russia to end a 12-year drought in the international tennis competition.
A doubles victory by Bob and Mike Bryan gave the Americans an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Russia in the best-of-five match World Group final. Americans Andy Roddick and James Blake had set the stage for the triumph with singles victories on Friday.
Although the United States boast the most Davis Cup titles of any nation - a tally that now stands at 32 - their last victory had come in 1995 when a Pete Sampras-led team defeated Russia in the final.
While the triumph ended a national dry spell, it also marked the end of a passionate personal journey for this particular Davis Cup squad, captained by Patrick McEnroe.
"I couldn't be happier for these guys. It feels absolutely awesome," said McEnroe, who took over the captaincy in 2001.
Roddick began his Davis Cup career the same year, and has missed just one tie since, that because of injury. Blake, too, made his Davis Cup debut in 2001, but missed 2004 because of injury and illness. "It has been a long road," Roddick said. "To be here and bring the Cup back to the United States is amazing. I feel like we really do deserve it. We've been the ultimate team." The Bryan twins, who finished 2007 as the No 1 doubles team in the world for the third straight year, delivered the third point with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev.