Britain wins doubles, 1 point away from Davis Cup title

As is so often the case, it was therefore left to Andy Murray to get Great Britain’s first point on the board, and the world number two duly obliged with a 6-3 6-2 7-5 win over Ruben Bemelmans.

If Murray loses, Kyle Edmund or possibly James Ward will find themselves playing in what is possibly the most intense match of the tennis year – perhaps even more stressful for the participants than Grand Slam finals – which is a decisive fifth rubber in a Davis Cup final. “I think on clay court I have some weapons to play a good match”.

ANDY and Jamie Murray won a thrilling doubles against an inspired Belgian duo to leave Great Britain one victory away from winning the Davis Cup.

Edmund settled what must have been significant nerves by saving two break points in a 12-minute opening game, and soon it was obvious just how much Goffin was feeling the pressure.

Older brother Jamie wavered at times, but he held his serve to finish the match off when Darcis screwed a forehand wide, signalling wild celebrations from the British fans wedged into the claustrophobic 13,000-seat arena inside the Flanders Expo.

Darcis had originally been down to play with Kimmer Coppejans but Belgian captain Johan van Herck switched his line-up shortly before play began.

Murray’s opponent today is world number 108 Bemelmans.

Andy Murray: “I will prepare like any other match for tomorrow”.

The brothers Murray have teamed up twice during Great Britain’s run to the final with positive results.

A Darcis double fault at deuce in the ensuing game paved the way for a break and then Jamie Murray withstood seven break points to hold for 3-1. But, yeah, I’m not getting ahead of myself.

But it was Jamie Murray that faltered in the third game of the second set. I still think we have a very good chance in both of the matches still to play.

Goffin had to expend more physical and emotional energy than he would have wanted in coming from two sets down to beat Kyle Edmund on Friday as the first day of the tie ended level at 1-1.

However, lifted by the chants of the home fans, the 24-year-old recovered from two sets down for the first time in his career to win 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0.

He will give the Scot no quarter despite having failed to win even a set on either of their two previous meetings. “I was a little bit anxious because Kyle was playing unbelievable”. Their preferred option was to look for the instant killing volley off the service return, but then if the rally developed, they would both drop back and use the slow bounce to pick the Brits off from the baseline.

“I had no idea about either of the warnings because you can’t hear anything on the court”, Murray said of the raucous atmosphere produced by a sellout crowd.

If Andy now defeats David Goffin, who he defeated with the loss of just one game in France less than a month ago, Great Britain will be Davis Cup champions for the first time since 1936. Goffin is a world-class player, he likes the clay and he’s going to have the crowd behind him.

“My job here is to obviously try to win the tie, give my best effort like I believe all of the team have in the last five years – hopefully we get the outcome that we want”, added Murray.