By Rex Gowar

Andy Roddick found himself on the losing end of an epic 17-15 final set as Russia stormed into their fourth Davis Cup final by beating the United States in  Moscow on Sunday.

The American's 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 defeat by substitute Dmitry Tursunov, replacing Mikhail Youzhny, gave the Russians unassailable 3-1 lead after the a win in the doubles on Saturday had kept US hopes alive.

The Russians, winners three years ago, will host the December 1-3 final against Argentina, who whitewashed Australia 5-0 in Buenos Aires.

Tursunov said after beating Roddick: "I didn't have much time to work out a strategy...I had some ideas of how to play him. It worked for the first two sets but not for the next two. In the fifth set I had no strategy, just tried to fight back.''

Singles victories by Marat Safin over Roddick and Youzhny against James Blake on Friday had put the Russians in command. Blake went on to beat Safin in Sunday's final dead rubber to make the final score 3-2 to Russia.