Andy Murray brought Great Britain level with Belgium on Friday by taking down Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets. Edmund was visibly starting to tire and the first signs of Goffin starting to eke his way back into his match arrived when he broke Edmund in the third game of the set.
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David Goffin recovered from two sets down to defeat Kyle Edmund in a pulsating five-set thriller, as Belgium took a 1-0 lead over Great Britain in the Davis Cup final.
The make-up of the reverse singles, which will see world number 16 Goffin play Murray, could be changed, with Darcis and Ward potentially coming in to contest a decisive fifth rubber. There were a few boos for Murray when he took his time towelling himself down after the fall in the opening set that left him covered in dust.
The 20-year-old South African-born player missed a set point in the next game, but after Goffin had battled his way back to 5-3, the British youngster made no mistake on his next serve.
During that spell, Murray dropped a point as a result of a warning from the umpire, while Belgium’s coach was also warned for his conduct with the crowd.
“I think he has good potential”, he said.
Murray smiled. “I’m surprised he could hear what I was saying”, he added.
“I think everyone should be excited about the prospect of playing in a Davis Cup final”.
“Okay, there was noise, but there will always be noise”. My legs started to get exhausted.
The match began with a 12-minute game in which Goffin wasted two break points, shanking one forehand into the roof girders, then saw him completely overwhelmed for more than an hour by a free-swinging Edmund with a thunderbolt forehand.
Goffin, for whom this was a first win from two sets down, said: “Kyle played an unbelievable first two sets”.
“I knew if Kyle was playing like this, bravo, but if there was a small chance I had to take it”. That’s probably why I was upset at the end.
“It’s not a nice feeling losing from two sets to love up”, conceded Edmund. But when you’re playing as part of a team, your job is more than just about preparing for yourself.
“You are going up against a guy that is not ranked that high but moving up… they are more risky”.
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It was the first time in his career that Goffin had fought back from falling two sets down to complete a victory that was vital to the home team’s hopes of winning the event for the first time in the history of the Davis Cup. Also keep an eye on the chipped service return he plays, especially off the forehand wing, where he loops the ball over the man at the net and into the empty court. “It will be a tough match but me and Jamie have played some good doubles before and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow”. When I’m not nervous is normally when I worry a little bit. Quality, home crowd and experience prevailed in the end, giving us an interesting first rubber in the Davis Cup final despite Murray being the clear favorite versus Bemelmans in the second rubber. “People expected me to win the match, and that’s what I did”. “He’s serving well; physically he’s big; he has a quick arm”. He has a lot of weapons. Hopefully he’ll go there and open his shoulders up, just as if it’s the first round of Wimbledon against one of the top guys and you just go out and have fun and go out swinging.
