Aged just 34, the Scot took over in 2010 when Lloyd resigned after that defeat by Lithuania and was in post when the team beat Turkey in Eastbourne to avoid slipping into the bottom tier of the Davis Cup. Great Britain has won seven of the meetings, but Belgium won their most recent meeting in 2012.
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For one Briton in particular, victory could complete a quartet of extraordinary achievements. He was also the first to win Olympic gold since 1908.
“What Andy has been doing in the Davis Cup has been phenomenal”.
And Murray’s personal commitment to his team’s success can not not be overstated. Typically, two players from each nation are picked to contest two singles rubbers each – one on Friday, the other on Sunday – with those players often roped into doubles action on the Saturday as well.
There is also the belief that protecting the Flanders Expo, a converted convention center, will be easier than, for example, an open-air soccer match. In the end, he wasn’t needed with Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic gathering the points required to win. “I just have to forget this match (in Paris) and think about the matches of this weekend”.
‘I think it’s not for me to give people advice on security. “I’m sure he’ll continue as he has done all year and carry the team and do the job out there”.
“It was obviously a bit concerning a few days ago”, Murray said. I think we as a team have a lot of confidence in the organization.
“But here in Ghent, everything seems fine”.
The team is now practising in earnest, so just what are the playing conditions? I think that is a mark of a great captain and I put Leon Smith in one of those sort of categories. Obviously that changes the way the court plays and the way the ball travels through the air.
Smith liaised with the players over the weekend but Jamie Murray said he was “always planning on coming and playing”. I think the whole country will be behind us and we’ll try to keep the trophy here. “We’re ready to play on Friday”. “But I liked it”. That’s the most important thing for him to do, to concentrate on his preparation and performance on the court. It would be well-deserved, as well. But this is a bit different.
If Murray helps Britain win in an era in which he may find it impossible to outshine the ridiculously talented Novak Djovokic, he will simply be continuing his career-long habit of completely outperforming the last 70 years or more of British tennis players.
“We’ll all work together as a team and fight for the best result for all of us”. But it’s obviously not been the first time that’s happened.
There are no surprises in the Belgium line-up, with Kimmer Coppejans, Ruben Bemelmans, David Goffin and Steve Darcis given the nod.
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The hosts for the tie, Belgium have chosen clay as the surface for this year’s final in an attempt to limit the threat possessed by Andy Murray, with it his weakest surface by some distance. They met in the final in 1904, with Britain, then known as the British Isles, winning 5-0. They’ve had to play Australia, the United States and France, powerhouses of global team tennis.
