Juan Martin del Potro has given Argentina a 1-0 lead in their Davis Cup semi-final clash against Great Britain after winning a titanic contest against Andy Murray (4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 4-6) in Glasgow.
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The main talking point before the match had been whether he would play after spending five hours and seven minutes battling and losing to Del Potro on Friday, the longest match of his career.
Argentina are looking to win their first Davis Cup having suffered three defeats in the past ten years to Russian Federation in 2006 and to Spain in 2008 and 2011.
Andy Murray is ready for “one more big push” this week as he tries to steer defending champions Britain into the Davis Cup final.
Thus, Great Britain stayed in contention in this interesting Davis Cup World Group semi-final tie after they lost both singles ties yesterday, cutting the Argentina’s lead to 2-1.
But Murray played a poor game to trail 3-1 in the fourth and could not recover, the match heading into a decider as the clocked tick past the four-hour mark. “But we’re closer than we were at the beginning of the day and I still think we can come back”.
“In the end I played good forehands and good serves and that was key”.
Andy Murray is scheduled to face Guido Pella at 13:00 BST, followed by Kyle Edmund against Juan Martin del Potro.
“I took a few days off after NY and came here and I’ve been practicing since Sunday”. Andy and Jamie saved 2 set points in game 8 on own serve but the Argentines sealed the deal in game 9 when del Potro fired unreturnable serve. The doubles match was the best possible scenario for Britain – they won, and exhausted Del Potro out. For me to play against the best players in the world, those guys hit it so hard from the baseline it’s kind of difficult to volley and judge the ball.
Del Potro won 6-4 5-7 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 after more than five hours on court against the Wimbledon champion.
“I’m very proud of how I fought, I did fantastic”, Murray said. I fought for every point, tried as best as I could. If he wins, it is nearly certain the responsibility of winning the tie will fall to Dan Evans in the closing match in the Emirates Arena against Juan Martín del Potro. I’m sure that their players are the same though.
There is no doubt that if Great Britain clinch the doubles, and with the younger Murray the favourite in his encounter against Pella it will be down to either Edmund or Dan Evans to beat Del Potro to keep their dreams alive. As I said on the court, it’s a huge privilege to be able to play with Andy in Scotland and have that amount of support behind us.
Once again, the Mayer service game collapsed when it mattered and there was nearly something predatory about Andy Murray as he approached the net on the first of three break points to make sure Britain needed only one. They were returning great and showed the mental toughness in the crucial moments in front of their patriotic fans.
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He paid credit to the Argentineans who both played extremely well especially in light of Del Potro’s resurgence. “Juan Martín del Potro played an wonderful match and I know this was a chance for me today”.
