With a 2-1 lead, Murray had to beat world No. 16 David Goffin in order to prevent a decisive fifth rubber, which would have been played against the world No. 100 and world No. 108, yet would have been one of the biggest matches of the year.
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“It was a nicer feeling than after Wimbledon, it might sound wrong to say but I didn’t really enjoy that (Wimbledon), I was so relieved to have done it and didn’t enjoy it as much, whereas here I enjoyed it so much more”, the 28-year-old said.
“I would rather be having two shots (at winning) tomorrow rather than one”.
“It probably wasn’t the smartest thing for me to do”. “It’s incredible for all of us to watch how he’s managed to win that many rubbers, that many wins”.
Murray won all of his 11 Davis Cup matches over the course of a year. “There is a bit more passion there when you’re competing for your country”.
“That’s why the level of play I think is so high”.
Murray was forced to play some of his best tennis against a unsafe opponent who was roared on by a soccer-style crowd inside the claustrophobic arena.
His first statement after picking himself up was, “I never thought we would have the opportunity to do this”.
Goffin squandered a break point at 2-2 in the opening set and Murray then pounced, scorching a backhand victor off a weak second serve to move 4-2 ahead.
Murray becomes the first player to win three live rubbers in the final since American Pete Sampras in 1995.
Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi are the only men to have claimed four Grand Slam titles, the Davis Cup and Olympic singles gold.
This was a record of the Perry days no one expected Murray to emulate but, with stunning performances against the United States, France, Australia and Belgium, he clinched the Davis Cup.
“Captained by Leon Smith, it featured Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, James Ward, Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans and Dominic Inglot”.
Murray broke twice in the final three games to close out the 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 win.
Among those cheering on team GB – and Andy in particular – was his proud wife Kim, who is around six months pregnant with their first child.
The win over Goffin made Murray just the third player, after John McEnroe and Mats Wilander, to win all eight singles in the same calendar year since the Davis Cup World Group started in 1981. But we set about just getting a really good team of people around that really cared about everybody in the team and wanted what’s best for them.
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“Hopefully we can all use it in a positive way to further our careers in the next few years”.
