Edmund’s performance on Sunday was particularly impressive as he hit 27 forehand winners and 39 in total on the slow clay court to ensure Britain won their first World Ground Davis Cup match without their number one ranked player.
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Leon Smith’s squad will now face a home tie against Argentina, who took an unassailable 3-1 lead against Italy in Pesaro.
Murray, who decided against playing the tie after winning a second Wimbledon title just a week earlier, was courtside and cheered on Edmund in every point throughout…
Kyle Edmund was the star once again for Britain as, in the absence of Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, he secured his second straight-sets victory of the tie to beat Dusan Lajovic.
Federico Dulbonis was the star as he beat Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 for a 3-1 win.
The 26-year-old Serbian was also affected by weather conditions that were unusual for this time of the year for Belgrade – cloudy, foggy and cold.
Krajinovic replaced Janko Tipsarevic, who was easily defeated by Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in the first singles match on Friday.
With Andy Murray in an observer capacity in Belgrade, Kyle Edmund was Britain’s hero as the 21-year-old won both his singles rubbers to earn the defending champions a 3-2 victory at the Tasmajdan Stadium.
Cecchinato and Lorenzi were flat in the first two sets, losing 6-1 and a tiebreak, but the Italian team battled to take the third and fourth sets, both 6-3.
The fourth quarter-final is between United States of America and Croatia, with U.S. leading 2-1 in OR ahead of the scheduled final rubbers which see John Isner take on Marin Cilic and Jack Sock play Borna Coric.
“I feel I did the best I could under the circumstances”. It is a 50-50 match, both have very similar rankings, both with not much Davis Cup experience and both like clay.
Cilic finally broke Isner’s serve during the eighth game of the second set, leading to a 6-3 win and a two-set lead.
“He will take a lot from being able to win two five-set matches under this pressure”.
Murray and Inglot produced a vintage display to keep Great Britain’s interest in the Davis Cup strong after they defeated Krajinovic and Zimonjic to claim a one-match lead going into Sunday’s deciders.
“I just focused on my thing, ” Inglot said after his first doubles win in Davis Cup.
Should Lajovic beat Edmund, the tie would come down to a deciding fifth rubber between Ward and probably Tipsarevic, with Serbian captain Bogdan Obradovic hinting strongly he would stick with the 32-year-old despite his poor showing on Friday. The chances are, however, that with the semis following the Rio Olympics and the US Open, they will surely this time play on hard courts for the first time.
“It was flawless, I am really happy”, said French captain Yannick Noah after the 3-1 victory.
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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 was just too good today”.
