Marat Safin (Rus) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4

Marat Safin gets Russia off to a great start as he takes the first set of the opening rubber 6-4

Safin's experience begins to count as he uses his full range of ground strokes to put Mathieu under pressure

French captain Guy Forget's enthusiasm quickly evaporates as Safin takes the first rubber 3-1

Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus) 7-6 6-3 6-0

Sebastien Grosjean battles back for France taking the first two sets against Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov

Kafelnikov fails to cope with Grosjean's skills on clay despite having chances to break the Frenchman's serve

Grosjean sends the home crowd into raptures as he clinches the rubber in straight sets and levels the tie