“That has some really strong memories for us”.
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How could Kyle Edmund and Guido Pella, who were playing the second singles match of the day, stand a chance of topping that?
Murray had never previously lost a home singles match in the Davis Cup.
Gasquet, who was called into the team on Wednesday when US Open semifinalist Monfils pulled out with a knee injury, blazed through the match against Coric, relying on his trademark backhand winners.
Britain are hoping to follow up their remarkable Davis Cup triumph last November, a first for the country in 79 years, by setting up a final against either France or Croatia.
Edmund broke the Argentine s serve to take a 3-2 lead in the third set but Pella immediately broke back and won the next four games in a row to seal the set. Delbonis has only ever played one doubles rubber which he lost, and Mayer won two doubles rubbers previous year on route to the semifinals.
The 2009 US Open champion cracked an ace down the middle sealing the 57-minute opening set.
The key rubber of the tie will pit Murray against a resurgent Juan Martin Del Potro just weeks after the Scot defeated his Argentine rival to Olympic gold following an epic battle in Rio. Murray’s record is nothing short of outstanding. “This was the type of match I was missing when I was at home”.
That removed the back-up doubles option, meaning Andy will once again be asked to play with Jamie on Saturday and compete on all three days.
Murray put too few first serves in court, claimed not enough points on second serve and made too many unforced errors to win the first set, in which Del Potro served brilliantly and generally played that way, too.
The 27-year-old’s ranking is still recovering following two years away from the game and he finds himself ranked below teammates Federico Delbonis and Guido Pella.
Captain Leon Smith will now have to make a hard decision for who lines up in Saturday’s doubles rubber, now a must-win match if Great Britain are to take their title defence into a third day.
The 29-year-old has admitted to fatigue following a hectic summer that saw him win both Wimbledon and the Olympics but Team GB Captain Leon Smith said he was confident Andy will succeed.
Murray saved one match point with an ace and ran his heart out to try to break the Argentinian. That was mentally and physically a very draining match.
Murray will now wait to decide whether he will play in the crucial doubles rubber on Saturday alongside his brother Jamie.
It was a very despondent Murray who faced the press minutes later, stately baldly: “It was very fine margins… could have gone either way”.
Edmund in straight sets is a tempting bet at 15/8, although I’m going to head to the total games market for my bet, going under 38.5.
On his first appearance in Scotland for 12 months, Murray was living dangerously against Del Potro’s forehand. Playing Murray in top form in front of one of the most passionate crowds in tennis will be very tough for Pella, but Davis Cup always brings out the best in young players and he’ll no doubt relish the thought of playing against the British number one in that kind of atmosphere.
That in turn means the tie will open on Friday afternoon with a true clash of the giants between Murray and Del Potro.
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Argentina captain Daniel Orsanic, though, had no qualms in declaring Del Potro his side’s most important player.
