The GB pairing raced through the opening set with little resistance, but they were edged out by Krajinovic in the second set tie-break to add further tension as the rested British No 1 Andy Murray watched anxiously.
Advertisement
He will surely lean on cheerleader-in-chief Andy Murray, who won every tie in Britain’s magical title run previous year in the fourth rubber. But with the weather improving (rain, what rain?) and the court drying out and even potentially speeding up, the Serbs were right back in it, staying toe-to-toe with the Brits before completely dominating them in the second set tie-break. It was a tricky situation in the middle of the second set where he broke back.
In a first time meeting between the pair, it may all come down to experience – Lajovic is a six-time nominated player with an a 5-4 record now with his win over Ward.
“I just tried to relax during the rain intervals”.
Inglot, who sealed his first Davis Cup win with the victory after serving out the third and fourth sets, said: “It is great to feel like I have finally put a rubber in for the team”.
On Sunday, though, Edmund will come of ageif he succeeds in carrying Great Britain into the Davis Cup semi-finals.
The Serbians actually saved a match point as Krajinovic hit a magnificent lob that landed on the baseline.
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. He won 10 straight points in breaking Ward at love and holding at love for a decisive 3-1 lead in the third set.
Jack Sock got the hosts off to a rousing start as he stormed back from two sets down to defeat former US Open champion Marin Cilic 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
It would be asking a lot for Edmund to have anything like the success of Murray, who was there yesterday to support his team-mates, despite deciding not to play in the wake of his superb Wimbledon triumph last weekend. “This is a chance for him to say, “Okay, this is not only an Andy Murray team, I can also beat some good players”.
Ward said: “I’m happy to be here”.
Now down to 240 in the world, the British player had his movement exposed on a heavy surface that was the opposite of what he would have liked.
The 32-year-old, now ranked 405, said: “I didn’t play Davis Cup for a long time so I’m making up for lost time”.
Both men struggled with their footing on the boggy clay-court, which was iffy to start with and certainly not helped by 24 hours of rain.
Advertisement
Murray was not too anxious by the loss of the second set, saying: “I think we were a bit unfortunate”.
