Goffin fights back to give Belgium lead in Davis Cup final

The first game went to six deuces and Edmund saved two break points to win it in 12 minutes.

A recent victor of a clay event in Argentina, Edmund looked at home on the red dirt which had been requested by the hosts and broke a stunned Goffin twice more to open a 5-0 lead.

Was a comeback on the cards?

Goffin tested Edmund’s nerve by winning three games in a row, but the 20-year-old passed it with flying colours, clinching the set with an ace. His nightmare worsened after he fell afoul of another thumping forehand as Edmund wrapped up the second set easily.

Edmund by contrast was overflowing with confidence, a booming serve bringing up a 5-1 lead in the second set.

The Brit stubbornly broke back but would surrender his serve again as Goffin reduced the deficit to the relief of the home crowd.

“The third set was tricky after missing a few chances early on and he started going for his biggest shots when the new balls came out”, he said. Edmund committed 11 unforced errors in the third.

Edmund said that he had felt he had the game to beat Goffin, especially as the match was on clay – a surface he enjoys playing on. But Kyle has got the form coming in, and he showed his pedigree in the first two sets on Friday. “He played really aggressive with his forehand”.

With two players from each team playing two singles matches each over three days, it has been the doubles that has been crucial in British success so far. When I’m not nervous is normally when I worry a little bit. He will hope today’s match unfolds in a similar manner for the pressure is today all on the visitors. The Belgian started the second set just as badly and this time could not respond in kind. “I’ve practised a lot with Kyle and he’s playing very well”.

In the fifth set, Edmund claimed a total of 10 points. “I was just trying to block out the atmosphere, the occasion, and just play tennis, which is something I do every day”, he said. He does have a unique ability that you do not see from many players, and that is the knack of opening his racket face at the last instant and striking an inside-out volley off both flanks. You feel like you’ve let them down.

But with the 13,000 fans in the Flanders Expo Arena making a deafening noise, Murray said: “I didn’t know why he’d called 30-Love”.

One wonders how he’ll react to the defeat. Smith is likely to have included Ward in the team to give him another option should the tie go to a decisive fifth rubber.

His 2015 results have been less spectacular, but he still comes into the Davis Cup final ranked world no. 16 after runner-up finishes in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Gstaad and reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon, which took him to a career-high ranking of world no. 14. Murray, meanwhile, was in trouble for his language.

The third set proved to be a tougher challenge for Murray as a nothing-to-lose Bemelmans tried to unsettle the Scot with a series of drop shots and net charges.

Never mind the Charge of the Light Brigade, the Charge of the Murray Brigade is about to begin. Rattled by receiving the point penalty, Murray trailed 4-2.

Instead it was left to Andy Murray to pull things level in fairly routine fashion.