Kyle Edmund took Great Britain into the Davis Cup semi-finals with victory over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic in Belgrade. Dom (Inglot) that hunger, trying to get his first Davis Cup victory.
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He will surely lean on cheerleader-in-chief Andy Murray, who won every tie in Britain’s magical title run previous year in the fourth rubber.
The British No 5 was not originally in the team for the tie but replaced Dan Evans last week, with captain Leon Smith saying he was not in the right “head space” following a shoulder problem and personal issues.
“We’ve been in this situation before and you never know, especially with the first match tomorrow”.
“If I reproduce this kind of performance against Edmund, I think I have a good chance of winning”.
WHEN it comes to Britain’s Davis Cup team, where there’s a Murray, there’s always a way. ‘Kyle is very level headed, grounded and methodical in his approach and he is an established tour player now.
With his illustrious brother taking the role of cheerleader beneath hundreds of British fans in the crowd, Jamie had earlier just about held steady enough to see off the v eteran Zimonjic and his rookie partner, who played above themselves.
Inglot sat on the sidelines for three out of the four ties past year as the Murray brothers took centre stage but he and Jamie were favourites to beat Zimonjic, a classy but fading doubles force at the age of 40, and the inexperienced Krajinovic.
He hinted that Krajinovic, who had not played a match since May because of injury, was also far from 100 per cent, and the 24-year-old looked distinctly rusty as Britain raced through the opening set with the sun finally shining over the Tasmajdan Stadium.
The first set was all about Great Britain as Inglot and Murray got off to the best possible start by winning the first three games of the set including getting a crucial break of serve in the second game.
Both players went into the clash on four-match losing streaks but it was clear from the start that Lajovic was the more natural clay-court competitor. “Being part of the team is fantastic but it makes you feel that you’ve really contributed”. We had all the chances and then they played a few good points in the tie-break. “The tactics we had set up were pretty much completely opposite to everything he did in the first set, which is credit to him”.
“Great Britain can seal their place in the semi-finals if Edmund can defeat Lajovic in Sunday’s opening singles match, while Ward will be looking to bounce back from his disappointing defeat by beating Tipsarevic in the final scheduled match of the tie in Belgrade”.
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Ward was equally off the pace, struggling with his movement and his game on the boggy clay court, which had been saturated by 24 hours of rain.
