Pressure on Murray, says Hewitt ahead of Davis Cup semis

Great Britain and Australia are tied after day one of their Davis Cup semi-final in Glasgow on Friday.

Andy Murray will also be up first on Sunday when he plays Tomic, with Evans and Kokkinakis facing off in the final rubber.

Throughout the match with Kokkinakis, the crowd chanted and cheered, urging on the former Wimbledon singles champion to an emphatic 6-3 6-0 6-3 win.

“I had a similar situation eight days ago at the US Open playing a tough first round and then playing Lleyton (Hewitt) in a five-setter, which was epic”, Tomic said after denying the inspired world No.300 in front of a full house of raucous home fans.

Earning break points in the teenager’s opening service games, Murray relentlessly pressured serve, cut off the angles and suffocated a 19-year-old opponent playing just his fourth Davis Cup match.

“There was a big expectation on Bernie to win and the weight of it all was grinding him down into the court, but that’s Davis Cup!” But you know, obviously now I have the option to be picked because that match was quick.

Australia’s charge in singles is led – at the moment – by Bernard Tomic and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Andy Murray has already done more than his share of pioneering for the host Brits, but he’ll be asked to shoulder the load once again against a diverse group of Aussies that will counter with a mix of youth, experience, and Hewitt. “A huge match to start off the tie and I’m glad I managed to put on a performance”.

But he followed up with a double-fault to quickly find himself down his first break point of the match. Those booking corporate hospitality at the ATP World Tour finals will certainly be able to see Andy Murray, who has already clinched his place in the singles along with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka. “But once I got that break in the middle part of the first set I just continued to play better”.

“His backhand was lights out today and that’s what really hurt me”.

“He’s beaten me before so it’s a smart move”, Tomic said”.

“That’s the best he’s ever played against me”. I’ve got to know that whoever I play next, that there’s not too many players in the world who could go close to (Murray) if he plays like that.

Smith felt the surprise performance of Evans in his encounter with Tomic justified his shock selection ahead of regular James Ward.

Saturday’s pivotal doubles’ rubber will feature Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans and Kimmer Coppejans against Carlos Berlocq and Diego Schwartzman of Argentina although the two captains can change their line-ups up to one hour before the match. When he started to pull away in the second it did not look good for Evans, but the Englishman dug deep to find something special and, from a set and 3-1 down, he won 12 of 14 points to go 4-3 up after almost an hour’s tennis, but had to fight through deuce to hold.