Davis Cup: Andy Murray puts Britain into final

Britain, who won the last of their nine Davis Cup titles in 1936, made their first final since 1978 with victory over Australia in Glasgow thanks to Murray’s 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 win over Tomic in Sunday’s first reverse singles.

Britain number one Andy Murray has disclosed that he is likely to pull out of this year’s ATP World Tour finals in order to be fully fit for Davis Cup final against Belgium in November. After the nation claimed a singles and doubles rubber in the earlier half of the weekend, Andy Murray sealed the deal by defeating Bernard Tomic 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.

Leon Smith’s men will face Belgium in the final after they saw off Argentina 3-2 in the other last four encounter, with the Belgians enjoying home advantage.

With the finishing line in sight, Murray found some extra reserves to step up a gear in the third set and twice broke Tomic to serve for the match with his opponent sending a return wide to seal the win and send the home crowd wide.

Murray also will be missing the raucous support he received from the 8,000 Glasgow fans in the 3-2 semi-final win over Australia. The final of the ATP World Tour Finals is on Sunday November 22.

That would mean him forfeiting his year-end payment from the tour bonus pool, distributed under a formula.

The world number three, who had back surgery two years ago, said: “I wasn’t concerned about how much I had left in the tank, I was more concerned about my back”.

Hewitt had been on a handshake deal to take over whenever he stopped playing, but backlash led by former Australian Open director and dual-Davis-Cup-winner Paul McNamee led to Tennis Australia putting the position vacant sign out.

Despite the major rewards on offer in London in terms of prize-money and ranking points, the Davis Cup is Andy Murray’s main target for the rest of this year. And I was playing more aggressive than in the first match.

Andy Murray revealed he played through the pain barrier to help seal Great Britain’s first appearance in a Davis Cup final since 1978.

A similar scenario could be played out this year, with Belgium, the Davis Cup final hosts, expected to choose an indoor clay court.

So it would prove very expensive for him to skip the event, although he has a surprisingly poor record there for one of his calibre. “I think there’s all the time place for some improvement, but especially to have it under pressure in the final and to be able to keep that kind of level makes me really happy”, Beck said.

Why such an achievement might appeal to someone who has already won two Grand Slam titles as well as an Olympic one should be obvious; it isn’t every day Britain has an opportunity to win the Davis Cup. “I would have been disappointed if we couldn’t have sold a lot of tickets based on how quickly these ones went [in Glasgow]”. “I’m obviously delighted to get through”.