Courier sank to his knees when his victory was finally secure and was mobbed by captain Tom Gullikson. Soon Agassi and the rest of the US team piled on.

Safin slumped in his courtside chair consoled by Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Agassi lost in straight sets to Kafelnikov earlier in the day to even the best of five series. Then the Americans seemed headed for their first Davis Cup home loss since 1987 when Courier lost the first eight games against the Russian teenager, ranked No 170 in the world.

But Courier, a former world No 1 whose skills have declined in recent years had too much experience and grit for Safin, a Davis Cup rookie who had never played in a five-set match.

Courier, playing in the 29th five-set match of his career andsecond of this series essentially won the match in the third game of the final set.

After Safin saved two break points with booming serves for deuce, Courier volleyed into position for a slam and won the game when the Russian sent an easy forehand beyond the baseline.

The two players held serve the rest of the way with Courier sealing the victory when Safin couldn't handle a serve on double match point sending the return way long.

The Americans have won 31 Davis Cup titles, more than any other country. Their last title came in 1995, when a Pete Sampras-led team beat the Russians in a classic final at Moscow. Now the two countries have another stimulating series to add to their budding rivalry.

The US advanced to the second round against Belgium, who defeated The Netherlands 3-2 when Christophe Van Garsse finished off the decisive singles against Sjeng Schalken 6-4 6-4 3-6 3-6 6-3. They completed a match that was halted on Sunday because of darkness.

The Americans have never been beaten in a DavisCup series when Courier plays going 11-0. That streak appeared in jeopardy, though, when Agassi lost in singles for the first time since 1990 losing to Kafelnikov 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).

After losing the tie-breaker, Agassi slammed his racket to the court grabbed his bag and hustled to the locker room. His match lasted all of 90 minutes.

"I haven't played a match that poorly in a long time" said Agassi, who had only three break chances, all in the first set, and failed to convert any of them.

Agassi had won 16 straight Davis Cup singles including a straight-set romp over Safin on Saturday to tie the American record set by Bill Tilden from 1920-26. But Kafelnikov prevented Agassi from setting a mark and clinching the best of five series.