The nation improved to 2-1 over Belgium in the 2015 finals on Saturday when Andy Murray and Jamie Murray took down Belgium’s Steve Darcis and David Goffin in four sets in the one doubles matchup of the finals, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
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Leon Smith, Britain’s captain, would then have to decide whether to select Kyle Edmund or James Ward to face Darcis. “I think on clay I have some weapons to play a good match”.
For good measure, they broke Darcis once more to serve out set and match, 6-2, just 10 minutes short of three hours. “He turned that, and that’s something I need to learn from”, Edmund told reporters. That was why I went to speak to the umpire, because literally I had no idea about either of the warnings because you can’t hear anything on the court. In the third set it looked as though the tide was beginning to turn in the Belgium’s favour as it was now Edmund’s turn to miss his shots that were being ruthlessly dispatching in the first 2 sets. The Murrays are 3-0 all-time as a duo in Davis Cup play and Andy Murray has won his last five doubles matches in Davis Cup play overall.
The break came in the next game following a double fault by Darcis and a volley error by Goffin.
But this time the elder brother was struggling to find his touch and his timing, and the Belgians pounced in the third game of the second set.
“First couple of games my timing was a little bit off”, Murray said.
If world number two Andy beats Goffin on the red dirt at the Flanders Expo on Sunday, and only the fearless would bet against him, his team will be champions for the first time in 79 years and there would be a strong case for the 115-year-old trophy being housed in Dunblane town hall in Scotland for a year. It was looking very desperate for the Belgium and he was looking unlikely to even take a set against a determined Murray.
“I believe we can win the tie, obviously, otherwise there would be no point in us being there”, added Murray.
“My first plan was always to play David and Steve, but I wanted to see how David got out of his [singles] match”.
Belgian captain Johan van Herck: “It’s a hard day tomorrow. When I move back, it’s a lot tougher for them to finish the point”.
“I had one bad game, the first one of the match”, said Nadal, a two-time finalist at the season-ending tournament.
Goffin and Darcis had never played together in a tie before, while the Murray brothers improved to 4-0 in the competition. “So I think it’s not a problem if I have to play five sets tomorrow”.
Jamie Murray then survived a gripping service game of seven break points and, after Darcis was broken once again, it left Andy Murray to serve out what could prove the decisive win of the weekend.
“Physically, I’m feeling good and ready for another match, even after nine sets”.
Great Britain and Belgium are locked at 1-1 after the first day of play in the Davis Cup final but there was plenty of drama on the way to the expected results.
Late bloomer Jamie has become one of the best doubles specialists in the world, reaching the Wimbledon final in July.
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A break of his serve early in the second set decided it and, when Jamie dropped serve again at the start of the third, a shock looked on the cards.
