Davis Cup final: All square after first day

This was Murray’s ninth Davis Cup victory this season – seven have been singles matches, and two have been doubles wins alongside his brother – and so the possibility remains that he could become only the fourth player to win 11 or more rubbers in a year.

David Goffin completed his first comeback from two sets down in Davis Cup in the opening rubber of the Belgium-Great Britain final tie on Friday.

Murray, who improved to 9-0 in Davis Cup rubbers in 2015 with his win over Bemelmans, struck 27 winners against 15 unforced errors and was in control of the match for much of the way.

“The third set he started to get on top of me”.

To no-one’s surprise, Murray later leveled the affair by easing past the 108th-ranked Ruben Bemelmans 6-3 6-2 7-5, boosting his record in the competition this season to 9-0. But that didn’t matter, as he soon took the first set, and then rattled through the second, dropping just one game. Edmund is ranked No. 100 and had not played in the Davis Cup until Friday.

“The experience I’ve had close to that is probably in Paris in my (French Open) first round when I played a French guy in front of a loud French crowd”.

Captains can change their picks and Belgium’s Johan van Herck has indicated that he could take advantage of that option.

It has been a while since Great Britain last lifted the Davis Cup.

“Okay, there was noise, but there will always be noise”.

After surviving a 12-minute opening game, Edmund produced a stunning display of power tennis, particularly with his whipped forehand, to put the pressure-laden Goffin in all sorts of trouble.

The likely outcome is a 1-1 tie at the end of the first day that will set the scene for a potentially decisive doubles on Saturday when Murray and older brother Jamie will take on the untested pairing of Steve Darcis and Kimmer Coppejans.

The bulk of his 13,000 crowd were fearing for their man at that point, but you don’t get to World No 16 for nothing.

“I don’t even know”, he said when asked who would be facing the Murrays.

“I can take a lot of positives out of it. At the end I was very upset emotionally”.

“It’s not a nice feeling losing from two sets to love up”, conceded Edmund. I trust everyone in the team from all of the staff to all of the players. I could just feel them straining.

No Davis Cup final debutant has won a live rubber but it was also a step into the unknown for Goffin, who had never come back to win from two sets down before. “It was tough for me to find my timing on the baseline”. When I’m not nervous is normally when I worry a little bit. I tried to stay calm, to manage it very well. Ruben Bemelmans could not make it last beyond three sets – and two hours and 25 minutes – with Murray steely and spirited from the outset. “I’m sure there have been cancellations but at the same time there are also people that are looking for tickets so it might be a chance for them to come”.

Edmund continued his imperious form at the start of the third, taking the first game courtesy of an audacious disguised volley at the net which had Goffin sprinting in the wrong direction. He has a quick arm and forehand.

“Kyle has a lot of weapons on the court. Every point is. But I don’t think for either team, if you lose it, that the tie is over because I think both teams are capable of winning all of the points here”.