Andy Murray led Great Britain to a historic triumph over Australia in the Davis Cup semi-finals on Sunday, beating Bernard Tomic 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in Glasgow to hand his team an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie.
Advertisement
Now Australia’s hopes potentially rest on Bernard Tomic as he is lined up to face Murray today.
It would be 5.13pm before the familiar stomping rhythm broke out and the 8,000 fans inside this giant barn erupted in the most relieved pogo-dancing celebration of the tennis year. “Yes, he is the best player across the two teams, but it’s about Jamie as well”.
But Murray said: “I wasn’t really thinking about history or anything like that, I was just concentrating on the points”.
But the Australians – who were playing not only for a place in the final but to give Hewitt’s career the flawless send-off – would not go away.
He may now have to cut back on his commitments to put him in ideal shape for the final, adding: “It depends which surface we’re playing on”.
Murray had no intention of letting that streak end.
“It’s so noisy in there, it’s hot, it’s draining with all the emotions from the first point to the last”. Each of them struck a clean return victor under the most extreme pressure and against a wickedly speedy delivery (although the first shot, from Jamie, could have been taken out of the air by Groth if he had not mis-takenly believed that it would fly long). Dutch pair Thiemo De Bakker and Matwe Middelkoop rallied from a set down to win 7-6 (7), 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 after Federer’s regular partner Stan Wawrinka scratched, citing fatigue.
From a 30-0 deficit, a rasping Hewitt backhand gave Australia a lifeline, and they sent shockwaves around the arena by edging the tie-break after he saved a match point at the net.
“We kept creating chances, we stuck together like brothers should and managed to come up with enough good returns”. “My game matches up pretty well to him and that is what I have to try to do again on Friday”. He is not a natural fit for this competition, which is all about passion and commitment.
Tomic wobbled badly when serving for the match in the third, however, and was broken back as the Glasgow crowd roared on an Evans comeback.
By the closing stages, he was desperately mouthing, “I can’t hold!”
“He played too good for me and it felt like every service game I had he had break points in”. Or does he play Hewitt or Groth like he did in Darwin against Kazakhstan? Everybody here has played a part and other have as well.
“It’s a huge match to start off the tie”, Murray told Annabel Croft in his on-court interview.
“I think whoever won the doubles was the (Davis Cup) victor “, he said. He has also been known to perform the “chainsaw” – the head-down, multi-punching celebration that was seen on court from Hewitt a few times yesterday. He’ll expect to guarantee his side two of the five rubbers.
Advertisement
In Brussels, Argentina go into the final day leading Belgium by the same margin in their semi-final after Leonardo Mayer and Carlos Berlocq beat Steve Darcis and Ruben Bemelmans 6-2 7-6 (2) 5-7 7-6 (5) in a four hour marathon.
