Andy Murray overwhelmed with emotion as Great Britain reach Davis Cup semi

It was nearly assumed that Murray Jnr would deal with Simon in comfortable style, yet this sort of expectation only added to the weight on his shoulders.

Murray was a set and a break down against Simon with the effects of the previous two days – a week after a run to the semi-finals of Wimbledon – apparently catching up with him.

Britain’s Andy Murray, left, sits with his head in his hands with…

The turning point of the match occurred in The eighth game of the third, when Murray forced an opportunity to break with a delightful forehand victor before Simon hit the net with a botched backhand that re-energised the crowd.

Britain’s Andy Murray celebrates taking the second set from…

Murray was pivotal in all three of Britain’s wins, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday before partnering brother Jamie Murray to victory in Saturday’s doubles.

In London: Great Britain 3 bt France 1 [Andy Murray bt Gilles Simon 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-0; fifth rubber not played].

Britain’s semi-final against Australia will be played from 18-20 September at a venue to be decided. I’ve been through that before: “Just deal with whatever cards I’m dealt tomorrow when I wake up and hopefully play a good match”.

France may feel slightly irked given they boast seven players in the world’s top 50, in comparison to their opponents’ one, but Murray is adamant Britain’s success has been down to the group as a whole. And despite the relentless baseline rallies that at one stage had Murray on his knees in exhaustion, the Briton at last got a break point and took it to level 4-4.

1st serve points won: 76% – 59%.

Murray looked to be on his last legs after his Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Roger Federer just over a week ago, but he had never lost to Simon heading into their latest clash, having won 12 of his previous 14 meetings.

The world quantity 11 uncovered the truth that Murray was enjoying for a 3rd straight day by relentlessly shifting the Scot round, firing heavy groundstrokes into the corners. I just tried to win the match and managed to turn it around. But the French were in fine co-ordinated voice, and it was they who had the most to cheer as Simon broke Murray in the fourth game.

“It wasn’t looking great in the second set”.

The Australians kept their hopes alive by winning Saturday’s doubles rubber in Darwin, as veteran Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth teamed up to beat Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.

“This is what it meant, dragging his country into the last four for the first time since 1981…”

Kokkinakis also suffered a disappointing singles loss, but Masur said his “Special Ks” remained an important part of the team.

“The court is the most slippery I ever played on”, Simon said after a match during which he tumbled to the turf several times and required two medical timeouts for the injuries he incurred.