Winning Davis Cup Will Be Right Up There For Murray

Ruben Bemelmans was handed the unenviable task of trying to stop Andy Murray’s bid to win the Davis Cup final for Britain this weekend after being surprisingly picked as Belgium’s second singles player.

Belgian captain Johan Van Herck pleaded with the German match referee in the third set not to penalise his team for the reaction of their fans, which is a potential penalty available under ITF rules.

Murray, Britain’s outstanding player of the modern era, has already etched his name in the record books with his US Open Grand Slam win in 2012 and above all his 2013 Wimbledon triumph, which was also the first time that had happened for a British player since Perry won in 1936.

Murray created 14 break points on the Bemelmans serve over the two hours and 24 minutes on court, converting six as he raced to a 6-3 6-2 7-5 success.

Murray had been warned earlier in the third set for his colourful language, but took it too far when he reacted furiously after netting an attempted drop shot. I did say that before the tie started.

Steve Darcis and Kimmer Coppejans were named for the doubles in the initial Belgian line-up, but the latter is likely to be replaced by David Goffin or Ruben Bemelmans. He compensated a moment later with an ace on his second serve, and roared at the British bench. It’s important for us as a team that we represent out country well and we want to be an exemplary team.

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.

“At the end I was very upset emotionally”, said Edmund.

Edmund prepared for the Davis Cup final in the South American Challengers, winning the title in Buenos Aires scoring consecutive bagels over the experienced Horacio Zeballos and Carlos Berlocq.

In the end though, it didn’t matter as Murray cruised to a straight sets win. Goffin is also an extremely accomplished player on clay and has been practicing on this surface ever since losing in Paris nearly three full weeks ago.

As for Great Britain, they have the world’s best doubles coach in Louis Cayer, and he will have had the Murrays out there practising their returns and their patterns of movement, getting ready for the specific challenge of playing on this clay court. “He played really aggressive with his forehand”.

“I think if you look at it that way, they’re actually putting a lot of pressure on their own players in the other matches, to be honest”, he said. It s something I m going to have to learn as I go through the match.

“It was hard for me to find my timing. 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”. Obviously he will be devastated that he could not convert his position, and will probably feel he has let the team down, but he should not have that attitude.