WHEN it comes to Britain’s Davis Cup team, where there’s a Murray, there’s always a way.
Andy Murray might be sitting this one out and cheering on the sidelines as he recovers from his Wimbledon heroics, but brother Jamie stepped up to help holders Britain take a 2-1 lead over Serbia in their quarter-final in Belgrade.
After Kyle Edmund’s superb win over Janko Tipsarevic in the first rubber on a rain-hit opening day, yesterday saw Britain pegged back when Dusan Lajovic trounced James Ward to make it 1-1.
That gave Serbia – even without their talisman Novak Djokovic – the momentum, but Murray and Dominic Inglot held their nerve to clinch a 6-1 6-7 6-3 6-4 victory over Nenad Zimonjic and Filip Krajinovic to give Britain the edge.
If Edmund can beat the impressive Lajovic in the first of the reverse singles today, then Britain will be into the semi-finals and, with Murray likely to return for that one, a second straight Davis Cup title is within the realms of possibility.
Britain’s captain Leon Smith will not be thinking about the semi-finals, not least since Britain led Italy 2-1 in Naples a couple of years ago before going down 3-2.
“We’ve been in this situation before and you never know, especially with the first match tomorrow. It is a 50-50 match, both have very similar rankings, both with not much Davis Cup experience and both like clay. Let’s hope Kyle can do it but if not we have two opportunities, that’s the great thing.”
The way Ward performed, however, would suggest that it will all be on Edmund today and the presence of Andy Murray on the sidelines will surely be a big help.
Murray was cheerleader in chief yesterday as his brother got the job done against the experienced Zimonjic, whose mere presence took a set his pair didn’t deserve on the balance of play. After ripping through the first set, Murray and Inglot missed numerous break-point chances in the second and were made to pay as 40-year-old Zimonjic, who has played 52 Davis Cup ties, raised his game.
But after failing to take four points on the veteran’s serve at 4-3 in the third, the British pair finally got the break when Zimonjic double-faulted and then served out the set.
A break of serve in the opening game of the fourth set put them on their way and they held their nerve all the way to 5-4, when Inglot, looking for his first Davis Cup win, was tasked with serving it out for the match.
At 30-40, he looked shaky but he pulled out a big first serve and after another, he thought he’d won it only for Krajinovic’s topspin lob to catch the back of the baseline.
Then, after the umpire, Pascal Maria, warned the crowd not to call out during the service motion, Inglot was given an extra first serve at deuce, much to the Serbs’ annoyance.
It was the second chance Inglot needed and he produced two more massive serves to clinch victory, a huge relief for himself and the team.
“It’s great to feel like you’ve finally come out and put a rubber in for the team,” Inglot said. “Serving it out was a little bit nerve wracking, but with Jamie at net you know he will help you out and he deserves a lot of credit.”
Jamie said he and Inglot could easily have won in straight sets. “We’re really happy to have a lead going into Sunday,” he said.
“I think we were a bit unlucky to lose that set, we probably didn’t quite return as well as we liked but we felt like if we stuck to our guns, we’d have a good chance to win.”
And so it’s down to Edmund, who, having earned his first Davis Cup victory in the opening rubber, will have to lead from the front in search of a second.
The home crowd will make life difficult for Britain but the travelling support, most of them from Stirling University, could be the difference.
“I know most of those guys,” Leon Smith said. “They’re great and they help all the players.”
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