It was looking like shades of Rio were being revisited just when Del Potro chose to turn the tables.
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With that Olympic final, they had walked on court with impossibly high expectations, but those were only exceeded with Del Potro’s 6-4, 5-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory in five hours and seven minutes, completed with an ace banged down the “T”.
When Andy Murray, in the gloomy days at the end of previous year, led a triumphant British team to its first Davis Cup victory since 1936, it was a very special day for GB tennis, but also a personal tour-de-force for the man himself.
Murray tried to be upbeat afterwards but losing such a contest in Glasgow, the city of his birth and where he is a bona fide hero, will have hurt. I thought the crowd were fair on both sides’.
“I did great today, very proud of how I fought”. That’s all you can do. “It’s very fine margins”, Murray said. “That happens in tennis and sport sometimes when it could go either way and there wasn t much difference in the match”, Murray said. “It could have gone either way and he just played a little bit better in the fifth set”.
Murray had never previously lost a home singles match in the Davis Cup.
Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has paid credit to both Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro after their marathon opening rubber in the Davis Cup semi-finals.
Murray said: “I’ll have to see how I pull up tomorrow when I wake up and then probably make a decision”. The visiting Argentine squad was given a huge boost with Del Potro’s return to singles, as he defeated second-ranked Murray in the dramatic and pivotal opening match of the tie, being played at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, on Friday, reports Efe. I’ve played matches close to that length but none after an extremely long stretch of playing.
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.
“I am happy to give the team a second point after Juan Martin’s incredible match”, said Pella.
Del Potro’s resurgence has been the feel-good story of the summer and it would be a hard-hearted Briton who was not at least a little happy for the genial 27-year-old. For a man of such a gentle nature off the court, Del Potro could not be more violent on it, even after all the wrist operations that have vandalised his career, keeping him off the scene for years.
We have a good chance of winning this match still. I had to get my rhythm back at the beginning of the fourth set and getting that break early on was crucial’. I think the crowd enjoyed that and of course when you win these kind of matches it’s great. From the very first game, he was taking giant swings with his forehand, really crushing the tennis ball. It could be revenge [for Rio] but in that match I was exhausted right before the final and now I felt I could fight for the five hours and five sets. “We made a good choice with the captain to play Andy on the first day”. The symbolism of Juan Martin del Potro’s opening victory was not lost on the rest of the Argentine team, and Britain will now have to win from 2-0 down – as they did against Russian Federation in the 2013 tie which sparked their return to the World Group.
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He started brightly enough leaping out to a 3-0 lead before being swiftly pegged back, and despite starting the resulting first set tie-break slowly, he soon started to wind up the pace, proving what a weapon his forehand is becoming, and picking off the first set at a canter. Edmund secured a break only for Pella to reel off four games on the spin to win the third set and put the hosts very firmly on the back foot.
