Murray seals British Davis Cup triumph

The world No.2, whose return to the team in 2013 accelerated Britain’s rapid rise from the depths that begun when Smith took charge in 2010, has won 11 live rubbers in this year’s run, matching Ivan Ljubicic’s total for Croatia in 2005.

The match-up of the two national number ones came after both had won their opening singles on Friday and Murray had teamed up with brother Jamie the following day to defeat Goffin and Steve Darcis in the doubles.It was do or die for Goffin and Belgium against the world number two who had yet to drop a single set against the 16th ranked Belgian in previous games. But the Scot, who spent last night celebrating with family and friends in Ghent, agreed with Leon Smith, his captain, that a huge public celebration could be too much.

“Andy Murray was on court to win the third and decisive point of the Davis Cup final this afternoon”, wrote the Telegraph’s Simon Briggs.

Asked if the triumph should be marked with a parade, Murray – who won three points in the final – joked: “I’m not sure anyone would come, we’d just be going round London seeing sights on our own and waving at buildings”.

He asserted that he have not been as emotional as he was after the match he won.

Britain is the only nation to have competed in all Davis Cup editions since 1900 and its 10th title makes it the third most successful nation after the United States (32) and Australia (28). The Davis Cup must be taken to every tennis club, in every community in the land.

“It’s incredible for all of us to watch how he’s managed to win that many rubbers, that many wins”, he said.

“What he’s managed to do for this team is astonishing, to post that many wins in one year”.

Murray said: ” I was pumped the whole match.

The LTA was heavily criticised by figures inside and outside the game for the failure to capitalise on Murray’s Wimbledon success in 2013. “These are very special, emotional moments that can actually drive interest in our sport, there’s no doubt about it”, said the chief executive.

“That’s the time we want to see the activation hit a high level”. “We’ve probably got a couple of great weeks of coverage coming and that is going to encourage participation”.

The other questions surround the future of Smith, the 39-year-old who has guided Britain from the brink of the Davis Cup fourth tier to champions within five years.

It’s also good that the attention was trained on Andy Murray more than his pregnant wife Kim Sears after his Davis Cup victory. We’re hoping this team wins [BBC Sports Personality] Team of the Year later in December, and our team gets to come back to a home tie in Birmingham in March.

Former Davis Cup captain David Lloyd criticised Andy Murray in an interview ahead of the tie for not putting enough back into British tennis.

“We are disappointed because this is professional sport and the thing that counts is the trophy”, he said.

“Just now what’s important is what’s been achieved”.