TEN years have elapsed since the day Andy Murray's Davis Cup adventure began but the memories remain vivid for David Sherwood. Here they all were in Ramat Hasharon, a coastal city bordering Tel Aviv, to play Israel in a second round tie in Euro/Africa Zone I. This was March 2005, six months after the teenage Scot had taken the US Open junior title, and three months before he would bring the tennis world to attention at Wimbledon with victories over George Bastl and Radek Stepanek before going down in five sets to former SW19 finalist David Nalbandian.
The 17-year-old Murray had been included by Davis Cup captain Jeremy Bates alongside Greg Rusedski, Alex Bogdanovic and Sherwood, but had seen no action on day one. Instead Rusedski had made light work of Harel Levy and Bogdanovic had lost in equally short order to Noam Okun. And so it fell to Sherwood, a flame-haired product of Sheffield who was seven years Murray's senior, to guide the future Grand Slam winner and World No 2 through his Davis Cup debut. Sherwood would also go on to win a singles match at SW19 that fateful summer but what transpired next he reckons was the high point of his career.
It would be fair to surmise that no-one gave the British doubles pair much chance. Maybe not the visiting fans, certainly not the Israelis. On the other side of the net, after all, stood the hosts' trump card, the virtually unbeatable doubles duo of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, who at the time were rated the No 4 doubles pairing in the world, with both men having the distinction of being individually ranked in the world's top 5 doubles players. Indeed Erlich, now 38, is still in the world's top 50 doubles specialists, going down to Jamie Murray and John Peers in the semi-finals of Wimbledon, and partnering Colin Fleming to a title in Shenzhen as recently as September. Tel Aviv was his home town.
They got more than they bargained for here, though, during a shock 4-6 6-7(5) 6-2 6-7(5) defeat. Part of the chemistry boiled down to the two Brits teasing each other about their respective football teams, Hibs and Sheffield Wednesday. "There were a couple of things that stood out that I can still remember, ten years on," said Sherwood, now a respected LTA coach back in his home town. "Andy's first return of the match was a ridiculous backhand up the line. They served to his backhand and he just ripped this shot back at them, just creamed it up the line. Looking back, everyone except Andy I think was a bit shocked that he had pulled it off. That was the first game of the match so it stood us in good stead for the rest.
"I also remember being set point down in the fourth and we had a pretty long rally that me and Andy were dominating," the Yorkshire man added. "Then they put up a big lob and I ended hitting a downward smash winner which just hit the line. If that had missed it might have been a different story.
"I think going into it we all knew that was he was a bit special. I wouldn't say it was written in the stars but he was definitely already on the right track at that point. But he played unbelievable that day. Everyone had almost written us off because their doubles team was a pretty special team at the time. But we went out there and did our bit. Which was a big shock to us as well as them at the time. It was definitely one of the best memories of my career."
Now, of course, this weekend's Davis Cup final could be scene for another debutant, another Yorkshireman, in the form of Kyle Edmund. "To be honest I think Kyle probably will make his debut and probably should - but thankfully it is not my task to have to pick the team," said Sherwood. "Obviously it is an unbelievable feat. I think they will continue it, go on and win the cup now."
As for that 2005 Davis Cup team, things weren't quite so auspicious. Sherwood and Murray never got the chance to reprise their double act against a Switzerland team boasting Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, a young Wawrinka even inflicting a rare defeat on Murray's single resume. While Sherwood has the memories to sustain him, Andy Murray and the rest of the Great Britain team have the chance to create some new ones this weekend.
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