Great Britain are through to the semi-finals of the Davis Cup after beating Serbia 3-1 in Belgrade.
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Federico Dulbonis was the star as he beat Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 for a 3-1 win.
After Kyle Edmund’s superb win over Janko Tipsarevic in the first rubber on a rain-hit opening day, yesterday saw Britain pegged back when Dusan Lajovic trounced James Ward to make it 1-1.
Murray decided not to play in the quarterfinals a few days after his second Wimbledon title but cheered the team on from the sidelines.
Great Britain will host Argentina in the semi-finals in September, with the victor of that tie facing either France or Croatia in the final.
The contest was played in gloom and often light drizzle, as the Davis Cup holders posted a first win at World Group level – without Murray – since 1986.
‘He’s only going to get better, so on this surface in particular he’ll have some great events in the next 10 or 15 years and that’s really exciting’.
Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said Zimonjic was playing on an ankle injury, and he was resting the experienced Tipsarevic for the reverse singles.
The first set was done in little more than half an hour, 6-3, and he broke in the seventh game of the second set after defending his first break point of the match.
‘They had some players missing but we did too, which shows that there is some depth there as well’.
Leon Smith’s squad will now face a home tie against Argentina, who took an unassailable 3-1 lead against Italy in Pesaro. No78 ranked Lukas Rosol beat world No10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a five-set thriller, only for 22-year-old French riser, riding a first quarter-final run at Wimbledon last week, to beat fellow improver Jiri Vesely to level the tie.
The USA hosted Croatia in OR, where Marin Cilic, having lost in five sets to Jack Sock, helped cause the upset of the weekend by joining with Ivan Dodig to beat the Bryan brothers and keep Croatia in the tie.
Again it was Edmund putting the pressure on – bringing up two more break points but despite protests at the crowd calling out during the point, no action was taken, with Lajovic scrambling to a lengthy hold.
“The fact that they won will give them so much confidence”.
His powerful forehand propelled him to the first two sets 6-3, 6-4, before he moved a break ahead in the third. The young Briton’s first serve deserted him and Lajovic broke for the first time.
“You just basically focus on the process but at the back of your mind you know what is at stake so I’m just happy that I managed to pull it out”.
Inglot, who sealed his first Davis Cup win with the victory after serving out the third and fourth sets, said: “It is great to feel like I have finally put a rubber in for the team”.
Andy Murray praised Kyle Edmund on Sunday night and confirmed that he himself is likely to be available for the home semi-final against Argentina after the US Open.
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“I played probably the best match in my life in doubles, especially at this kind of occasion”, Cilic told Tennis Channel.
