But the Scot, who looked increasingly tired as the exhausting encounter progressed, struggled to match Del Potro’s phenomenal ground strokes in the final two sets and finally succumbed after over five hours of nail-biting tennis. Injury-plagued 2009 US Open victor Juan Martin del Potro, who took silver in Rio after losing to Andy Murray in four sets and only played doubles against the Italians, continues alongside Federico Delbonis and Guido Pella.
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The action can be streamed live via BBC iPlayer and Eurosport Player in the United Kingdom and via Tennis Channel Everywhere in the USA. “It was good tennis that was winning the match”.
Jamie Murray will only play in the doubles rubber on Saturday and will be able to go to the funeral.
“It’s a hard choice because both Dan and Kyle are playing great tennis”, said Davis Cup captain Leon Smith.
Edmund had come into his own as the British No. 1 in the quarter-finals in Serbia, where he won both singles rubbers against Janko Tipsarevic and Dusan Lajovic, to send GB into the semi-finals. Doubles is always a tough match but I would have thought I would probably be the favourite to win the match on Sunday.
“I am so happy to be playing tennis again after three surgeries”.
The third set was a match in itself and reminiscent of their fourth set in the Olympic final.
Paris – Andy Murray’s stamina will be key to holders Great Britain’s push for a second consecutive Davis Cup final when they meet Argentina in the semi-finals in Glasgow starting on Friday.
The victor will strike a massive blow for his country, leaving Kyle Edmund and Guido Pella facing a mammoth match straight afterwards.
Britain must win Saturday’s doubles and both singles matches on Sunday if they are to keep alive their hopes of back-to-back Davis Cup triumphs. Pella has one victory in singles and one in doubles, while Edmund has two singles wins and one loss.
Cilic was serving for the second set at 6-5 and 40-0 up but made two big unforced errors on his forehand as Pouille broke back to force a tiebreaker, which Cilic eventually clinched with an ace after wasting set points.
He began well against Pella, ranked 49th to Edmund’s 55th, and recovered from 3-0 behind to win the opening-set tie-break. “It’s been a long day, both guys have fought as hard as they can, given their best and that’s all we ask before they go out”.
Murray is expected to partner big brother Jamie, who clinched his second Grand Slam of the season with the men’s doubles title in NY, in the doubles as he looks set to play three times in three days against Argentina.
Murray had been left shattered after his longest ever match proved all for nothing as he dramatically lost his proud record of never having been defeated in a home Davis Cup singles.
It was a very despondent Murray who faced the press minutes later, stately baldly: “It was very fine margins… could have gone either way”.
That happened on the final point of the set to Del Potro’s fury, the umpire declining to replay it.
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Del Potro and Guido Pella gave the visitors a commanding lead in Glasgow as they saw off the challenge of Murray and Kyle Edmund respectively, to leave Britain facing an uphill task to retain their title. This will be the first meeting between the pair and Murray will have a clear advantage.
