Defending champions Great Britain shrugged off the absence of Wimbledon champion Andy Murray to take a 1-0 lead over Serbia in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final on Friday.
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The winners will face either Argentina or Italy in the semi-finals.
Murray decided not to play in the quarterfinals a few days after his second Wimbledon title but cheered the team on from the sidelines.
Serbia is also without its top player Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 in the world, and its No. 2, Viktor Troicki.
He did so, just, by saving another two break points during a titanic 12th game deuce and teeing up a tense, topsy-turvy tiebreak which he won 7-5 when Lajovic fired a backhand wide.
Argentina reached the semi-finals of the Davis Cup for the 11th time in 15 years after Federico Delbonis clinched a 3-1 advantage for the South Americans in Italy – and they will now face a trip to Great Britain in the last four.
But in the doubles Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot beat Filip Krajinovic and Nenad Zimonjic 6-1, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 for a 2-1 lead.
Lajovic, ranked 14 places lower than Edmund at 81, said: “It’s going to be a match with a lot of nerves and we’ll see how we are going to handle the pressure”.
The dogged Lajovic, the Serbian crowd, some dodgy officiating – none of them could stop Edmund.
“I’m just immensely proud, but he should be really proud of himself and the team that works with him as well because he’s improved so much physically”.
Edmund’s only previous Davis Cup experience came in last year’s final against Belgium, when he won the first two sets against David Goffin but lost in five.
Zimonjic, the 40-year-old veteran, dropped his serve twice with double-faults for key breaks in the first and third sets.
Krajinovic, a late replacement for Tipsarevic and a player who had not contested a match since May because of wrist problems, looked distinctly rusty as Britain raced through the opening set with the sun finally shining over the Tasmajdan Stadium.
“Growing up you watch tennis and you think of these moments, what it would be like to win for Great Britain and it’s nice to be able to do that”.
And so it’s down to Edmund, who, having earned his first Davis Cup victory in the opening rubber, will have to lead from the front in search of a second.
“It’s always a team effort, but in the back of your mind you know what’s on (the) line”, Edmund said.
Both Lajovic and Ward went into the match on four-match losing streaks but there was no question who was the more natural clay-court player, with Ward’s movement poor throughout.
He added: “He loves when he has a lot of time on his strokes, especially on his forehands and I feel that he loves the really really heavy conditions because then he has no fear in terms of misplaying, or miss-hitting the forehand”. It just shows how much he cares about Davis Cup the fact he’s come out basically on his holiday week to come and support.
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“I hope they keep playing like this”. “He’s got a good tennis mind”.
