Captain Leon Smith will now have to make a hard decision for who lines up in Saturday’s doubles rubber, now a must-win match if Great Britain are to take their title defence into a third day.
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Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro took each other to the wire again but this time it was the Argentinian who came out on top to leave Great Britain’s hopes of a second consecutive Davis Cup final in jeopardy.
Murray, disconsolate after the loss, admitted he did not know whether he would be able to recover in time to take part in the doubles as he had found himself in uncharted territory.
Murray started to come the net more and hit the shot of the match, fizzing back a forehand pass after chasing the ball down to the baseline, on his way to winning the second set. So have to see how I feel when I wake up tomorrow, and then probably make a decision then.
The second set went with serve until Pella, who had claimed victory in the pair s only other meeting at Indian Wells earlier in the season, struck at the flawless time as he capitalised on Edmund s unforced errors to break serve in the tenth game to seal a 6-4 victory.
‘I’ve never played a match this long so I will have to see how I wake up and make a decision then, ‘ said Murray, who said that the death of his grandfather had made it a hard build-up to the match. I think we played for more than five hours both at a very high level.
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, is a force in tennis once again after returning from three wrist operations that almost ruined his career.
Smith said: “We’ve had a lot of good days but I guess at some point, especially where we are now in the World Group playing against great teams like Argentina, some days are going to be like that”.
An exchange of three consecutive breaks in the third set indicated that both players were unable to gain a foothold – appropriately only a tie-break could separate them, and Murray pinched it, having earlier produced a sublime lob to save a set point.
They were supposed to be reprising the Olympic final; instead, they only went and improved on it in the opening rubber of the semifinal between defending champions Great Britain and Argentina, by producing a match that was even longer on theatre, emotion and quality.
Murray served 35 aces but even that was not enough to stop Del Potro, making a mockery of his falsely depressed ranking of 64, coming back to put the visitors ahead. “I fought for every point and tried the best that I could and that’s all that you can do”.
Dan Evans, who narrowly missed out on playing despite being at home on indoor courts, will have been looking on in frustration after Edmund unravelled from a position of strength.
Andy Murray has no regrets because knows he fought from the beginning until the end: ‘It’s very fine margins.
Gasquet, who was called into the team on Wednesday when US Open semifinalist Monfils pulled out with a knee injury, blazed through the match against Coric, relying on his trademark backhand winners. That happens in tennis, happens in sport sometimes.
The second-ranked Scot slid a serve victor to save break point, eventually holding for 3-2. I feel so exhausted. “So exhausted. I’ve got cramps everywhere”.
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Croatia and France were tied at 1-1 after Friday’s singles in their Davis Cup semifinal clash in Zadar after Richard Gasquet and Marin Cilic both won their matches.
