NEARLY there. Great Britain - and one remarkable Scottish family in particular - are one point away from their first Davis Cup triumph since 1936 after the Murray brothers maintained their perfect record in doubles rubbers in this competition over the course of four seesawing sets against Belgian duo David Goffin and Steve Darcis. This 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory was Andy's tenth point collected in Britain's glory run in this competition in 2015, and the third which he has put on the board in tandem with his older brother Jamie. Having established a 2-1 lead, that advantage will become unassailable if the World No 2 can take care of Belgium's top player Goffin mano a mano in Sunday's first reverse singles rubber.
Belgium Davis Cup captain Johan van Herck brought his star man David Goffin in to partner Steve Darcis instead of luckless youngster Kimmer Coppejans and depending which way you looked at it it was either a wise use of resources or a desperation move. He may be a gifted player, who is No 16 in the world in singles, but Goffin doesn't have much in the way of pedigree on a doubles court. The 24-year-old has played just 15 previous tour level matches, losing 13 of them, his record standing at two of eight during 2015. The best you could say about them as a pairing is that they were untested. This was their maiden Davis Cup outing together, having previously joined forces for just seven matches, most of them in challenger tournaments, for a grand total of three match wins. They hadn't competed together for two years.
For the Murrays, meanwhile, this was another milestone in their remarkable careers. The first brothers to feature in a Davis Cup final since the Bob and Mike Bryan in 2007, this was their 56th doubles match all told, and their 33rd win. They had combined three times in Davis Cup action, winning all of them. On this form, they may be a good bet to combine for Olympic gold in Rio next summer.
Darcis, known as the Shark, you might recall shocking the world by knocking Rafa Nadal out of Wimbledon back in 2013. He also revels in Davis Cup play and it was a lob of his which put this Scottish/British pairing behind the eight ball after a tense opening as Andy Murray served at 4-4. The Scot had told a boisterous Belgian crowd to bring it on during his singles win against Ruben Bemelmans on Friday evening and they were at it here as the Murrays had to extricate themselves from break point. The World No 2 found a big first serve at the right time and the Belgians' big moment had gone, Andy geeing up the travelling fans instead, and when his ace clinched the game the pressure was back on Belgium. Goffin hadn't dropped a single point on serve until then but his resistance crumbled here. Serving to Andy set point down, an efficient return and snap volley left Darcis scrabbling around in the clay and the set belonged to Britain. 
The second set was a different story, though. For the first time in the match, Jamie Murray's serve faced some serious pressure. Two break points had come and gone before the pressure finally told courtesy of a neat Goffin volley. Steve Darcis nervlessly served out for the set and we had a game on.
You suspected the third set would be crucial and wondered how both pairings would react. The elder Murray sibling was battling against himself as well as his opponents here. For all the effectiveness of his anticipation at the net, he was toiling on serve, and two successive service breaks would give his team trouble. From 2-1 down, though, this Scottish/British duo worked their way back to 4-2, only to get pegged back on serve at 4-3. The fifth break point of the match was the really big one, though, engineered after after a point which had to be replayed after a Murray volley which landed flush on the line was mistakenly called out. It allowed Andy to serve for the set and he did it with applomb.
There then followed a short musical interlude as dance music leaked in from outside the arena, but soon we were back at it. The Murrays edged into a fourth set advantage on a break on the Darcis delivery and clung onto it despite Jamie facing the ordeal of seven break back points in the very next game. The double break gave vital breathings space and when one last Darcis return flew long, Britain had a 2-1 lead in this tie and every chance of creating a special piece of history.