Great Britain are through to the semi-finals of the Davis Cup after beating Serbia 3-1 in Belgrade.
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Edmund secured his first win in the competition in impressive fashion against Janko Tipsarevic on Friday and, after Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot put Britain 2-1 up in Belgrade on Saturday, found himself in the position of trying to win the tie.
Andy Murray may well play in that one, making Britain firm favourites to reach the final once again.
‘He is a lot better than a lot of people thought he was going to be, myself included, ‘ said the Wimbledon champion.
France has nine Davis Cup titles, but it last won in 2001.
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.
“I was a a little under pressure as we were down 1-0, but he was a little less comfortable”.
“The level at the end of the match was excellent, very few unforced errors from both of them”.
“It’s definitely new territory for Kyle, but I think it would also be new territory for Lajovic”.
‘Kyle was hitting a big ball the whole way through.
“He’s very level-headed, very grounded, very methodical in his approach”. There’s no reason why he can’t get right up to the top of the game.
The Olympic champion is still present in Belgrade to cheer the team on, including when his brother and Inglot dropped the second set against Krajinovic and Zimonjic.
Great Britain will now face Argentina in the semi-finals in September.
“It’s great to feel like you’ve finally come out and put a rubber in for the team”, Inglot said.
Captain Smith, whose impressive record improved to 14 wins from 16 matches, said: “We absolutely love Davis Cup, they’re awesome weekends”.
“It gives a really different dimension to our team. We see what Kyle’s done this weekend, Andy when he comes back in, Jamie (Murray) in the doubles, Dom (Inglot) in the doubles, we’ve got good back-up as well when needed”.
Overall, it was a largely confident display of powerful and attacking tennis by the young Brit whose booming forehand was often used to keep his opponent pinned to the baseline.
Then, after the umpire, Pascal Maria, warned the crowd not to call out during the service motion, Inglot was given an extra first serve at deuce, much to the Serbs’ annoyance.
Tipsarevic beat James Ward in the remaining rubber, with Serbia already eliminated.
Lajovic agreed about the condition of the clay court after heavy rains overnight.
Smith, though, believes the experience could benefit the 29-year-old, whose ranking has slipped to 240 after a miserable year.
Unable to take advantage of two break/set points, Edmund confidently served out the second set – keeping his composure well at the partisan crowd. “But it’s still a big ask if it comes to him”.
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Cilic was not expected to play doubles, but was drafted in at the last minute after Croatia lost both singles rubbers Friday to slip to the brink of elimination.
