IRKUTSK, Russia - Italy retained its place in the Davis Cup top tier Sunday, with Fabio Fognini securing the key point to beat Russia in a World Group playoff.
Fognini was forced to work hard, requiring two tiebreaks to beat Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
Fognini was the standout player for Italy, levelling the match at 1-1 on Friday with a win over Andrei Rublev, following Gabashvili's straight-sets win over Simone Bolelli.
With Italy leading 3-1 in the best-of-five match, a dead rubber now pits Paolo Lorenzi against Konstantin Kravchuk.
Russia misses out on a return to the World Group and will spend a fourth season outside the top tier in its worst Davis Cup run since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
