Lajovic brings Serbia level with Britain in Davis Cup

In the noisiest atmosphere of the tie so far, Murray and Inglot dropped the second set before recovering to win 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Edmund said: “It means a lot”. It’s not like you look at him, it’s his presence. “He doesn’t have to do it”.

“I just tried to relax during the rain breaks”.

Tipsarevic, a former top-10 player who has missed most of the last two-and-a-half years through injury, was clearly exasperated by the situation, and Edmund exploited that to the full.

Tipsarevic made 43 unforced errors in a disjointed performance, but world number 67 Edmund deserves credit for an aggressive display that saw him dictate the majority of the points.

Inglot had never won a Davis Cup match so it was all on his shoulders and he came through it in a tough game to hold his serve and win the set 6-4 and the match three sets to one.

Krajinovic, a late replacement for Tipsarevic and a player who had not contested a match since May because of wrist problems, looked distinctly rusty as Britain raced through the opening set with the sun finally shining over the Tasmajdan Stadium. It creates that momentum away from home, which is key. “It’s nice to execute it on the match court like I did”.

Kyle Edmund acknowledges that he played arguably one of the best matches of his career in trouncing Janko Tipsarevic to give Great Britain a lead over Serbia.

The 32-year-old, once ranked as high as eighth in the world, has only won seven matches since 2013 and his shots lacked conviction.

Britain’s James Ward serves a ball to Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic during their Davis Cup quarterf …

Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray presented him with the task when they overcame the scratch pairing of Nenad Zimonjic and Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

But soon a shower forced the match to be suspended for an hour.

“It wasn’t an option for me not to play today”.

And with the marching song (the Drina Battle Song, a World War I composition just FYI) repeatedly on the DJ’s playlist throughout the doubles, we might end up hearing a whole load of it again if it comes down to the wire. “How good am I ready to play, I don’t know”.

Elsewhere, the Rio Olympics took another blow as Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic and Romanian medal hope Simona Halep both pulled out of the Games citing concerns over the Zika virus.

The trio, whose selection was confirmed by the British Olympic Association yesterday, had to win appeals because they had not played in the requisite number of Davis Cup ties but all were formalities.

In other action Argentina lead Italy 2-1 in Pesaro while Wimbledon doubles champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won Saturday’s doubles to give France a 2-1 lead over the Czech Republic.

Johanna Konta and Heather Watson had already been announced to represent Britain in both women’s singles and doubles in Brazil, with mixed doubles entries to be decided on site.