MOSCOW -- Marat Safin has steered Russia into the Davis Cup final by beating Argentine David Nalbandian 7-6, 6-7, 6-0, 6-3.

Safin's win over the Wimbledon runner-up clinched an insurmountable 3-1 lead and set up a final clash against France, who beat the United States in the other world group semifinal in Paris.

The final, from Nov. 29-Dec. 1 will be in Paris or Marseille, the International Tennis Federation said on Sunday.

Mikhail Youzhny, a replacement for Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the redundant fifth match, was beaten by Juan Ignacio Chela as the Argentines reclaimed some pride in the Russian capital.

Argentine captain Alejandro Gattiger had gambled by replacing his number one player Gaston Gaudio on Sunday with Nalbandian, who had surprised everyone with his showing at Wimbledon.

The switch surprised the Russian team.

"To be honest, I didn't expect to play Nalbandian, especially as I have a losing 2-1 record against Gaston and he beat me the last time we played in Hamburg last year," Safin said. "But maybe after Nalbandian reached the Wimbledon final they thought he was a better player on a faster surface and would have had a better chance against me."

The two men battled for nearly two hours and split the first two tiebreaks before Safin used his powerful return to break Nalbandian three times and wrap up the third set 6-0 in just 28 minutes.

In the fourth, the former U.S. Open champion forced a decisive break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead, then held serve to clinch the match and the tie on his fourth opportunity.

The victory put Russia into the final for the third time in eight years. Safin and Kafelnikov had given Russia a 2-0 lead by beating Chela and Gaudio in Friday's singles.

"We should have finished the tie yesterday by going 3-0 up and let our substitute players see some action today. But unfortunately we were a bit unlucky," said Safin, who was congratulated by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin after the match.

Henman leads Brits past Thailand
BIRMINGHAM, England -- Britain have secured their place in the elite 16-team world group of the Davis Cup, beating Thailand 3-2 in their qualifier.

Tim Henman clinched Britain's spot, beating Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 at the National Indoor Arena for an unassailable 3-1 lead. On Saturday he teamed up with Miles Maclagan to beat Paradorn and Danai Udomchoke in the doubles to edge the hosts 2-1 ahead.

Thailand salvaged some pride when Danai, Henman's victim on day one, beat Arvind Parmar in the final singles match.

Henman showed no sign of the shoulder injury, which had threatened to keep him out of the tie in any of the three matches he played over the weekend.

"If only I'd been fit," he joked after beating Paradorn. "To come out and play as well as I did today is a nice way to finish it off. I think it certainly puts my mind to rest."

The draw for the first round of the Davis Cup world group 2003 will be made in London on Oct. 3.

"We are back where we belong," Henman said. "It was one we could not afford to lose and now to have the win is pretty satisfying."

Federer, Swiss seal spot in world group
CASABLANCA -- Switzerland, led by an impressive Roger Federer, clinched a 3-2 victory over Morocco to secure a place in the Davis Cup world group next year.

The Moroccans failed to win a single set against Federer in two singles matches and a doubles clash.

"It was a good achievement to beat Morocco here, and on clay," Marc Rosset, the Swiss team's captain, told Reuters. "Federer knows how to play well in Davis Cup. He's currently one of the best players in the competition."

Federer, who beat Hicham Arazi on Friday in less than 90 minutes and teamed up with George Bastl to win Saturday's doubles, found himself two sets up against Moroccan No. 1 Younes El Aynaoui on Sunday after just 70 minutes of play.

Unleashing heavy serves and showing impressive volleying, Federer broke twice in the third set to beat an apparently tired El Aynaoui to win 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

Australia shuts out India
ADELAIDE, Australia -- Scott Draper and Wayne Arthurs helped Australia complete a 5-0 win over India in their Davis Cup qualifier after world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was given the day off to play football.

Draper beat Rohan Bopanna 6-3, 7-5 and Arthurs defeated Harsh Mankad 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 after both teams rested their best players for the final day with Australia already assured of victory.

Hewitt, who beat Mankad in Friday's opening singles match then teamed up with Todd Woodbridge in Saturday's doubles victory that gave Australia an unbeatable 3-0 lead, spent his time off playing in an Australian Rules charity match.

The Wimbledon champion watched Sunday's first reverse singles match from court side before leaving the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre to take his part in the football game.

Australia's victory ensured they retain their place in the 16-nation Davis Cup World Group next year while India remains in the second tier.

Australia had reached the final of the last three Davis Cups, winning the title in 1999, but were relegated to the playoffs with India after losing to Argentina in the first round this year.

Australia's non-playing captain John Fitzgerald said his team would be back to their best next year after former U.S. Open finalist Mark Philippoussis announced he would make himself available.

"We're going to move on and get back into that World Group and do some damage next year," Fitzgerald said. "Mark Philippoussis intends to put his hand up and he's made that clear to me and it can only help strengthen us towards a common goal."