The 28-year-old Scot has nearly single-handedly taken Britain to the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1978 and providing he does not suffer any mishaps they should win the team event for the first time since 1936.
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This weekend Murray and Great Britain travel to Ghent to take on Belgium for the 2015 Davis Cup crown.
Here he will be eased into the final against the world No108, Ruben Bemelmans, in the second match on Friday afternoon but more rigorously tested in the first reverse singles on Sunday by David Goffin, who grew up on the surface.
As expected, Murray will team up with big brother Jamie in the doubles on Saturday against Steve Darcis and Kimmer Coppejans.
“But the whole run to the final has relied on Andy’s performances and it has been great to see Jamie rising to the challenge and becoming a force in doubles”.
With Murray the favored to win both singles on the red clay, Edmund will have an uphill battle to with either of his.
Whoever was picked, the pressure would still have been overwhelmingly on Murray to win all his rubbers. By winning both singles rubbers this week, he would join John McEnroe and Mats Wilander as the only men to go 8-0 in a calendar year since the introduction of the World Group in 1981.
“I m happy to take as much pressure on my shoulders as is needed”. I know what I need to do to get my body in the best shape if I’m going to play. I think I will be able to deal with it OK.
Getting that point will not be easy – five men before Edmund have made their Davis Cup debuts in a final and yet none of them managed to win a live rubber.
“I don’t know Kyle a lot”. He has a lot of firepower out there. David Goffin needs to play on a high level to give Belgium a chance, but Britain is the favourite.
“Playing all three days in the last two ties was a monumental thing to do”. He’s playing extremely well.
Edmund had been in line to make his bow in the semi-final against Australia but suffered an ankle injury in training.
“The day I played Andy in Bercy, it was just a day off for me”, Goffin said.
“Well this is definitely going to be the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of-probably the biggest occasion”.
Belgium will be buoyed by their home support, and they have a talented set of players.
The picturesque Flanders city is just 55 kilometres (35 miles) from Brussels, still reeling from the fallout of the terrorist attacks on Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more.
‘It is going to be louder, a new experience for me. By the end of that year he was up to
No 376 and today he stands as the world’s No 100 and is about to play the biggest match of his life.
In essence, that means the canny Smith has not painted himself into the corner of having to use a rookie should the fifth rubber of the match be a decisive one.
But Van Herck, leading Belgium’s only appearance in a final since their defeat by Britain in 1904, believes the tie will go all the way and says the crowd will be like an extra player for the home side.
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Great Britain Leon Smith indicated that world No100 Edmund’s superior ranking had earned him the nod over fellow singles specialist James Ward.
