Advantage to the Brit pack
A BRITISH Davis Cup team shorn of Andy Murray can today show they can cope without their star player by gaining one more point to beat Canada.
Jamie Murray and the largely unsung Dom Inglot combined last night to beat the formidable partnership of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil and put themselves 2-1 up with two rubbers left.
Even without Milos Raonic, this was the best doubles partnership Canada can field, but they were still beaten 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 in a tight contest that stretched to three hours and eight minutes.
Inglot, the 6ft 6in bruiser from Middlesex built more like a rugby second row, put in probably his best Davis Cup performance to date to silence the home fans by showcasing all-round skills beyond the power for which he is more known.
Today Dan Evans is due to take on Pospisil, who may be feeling the effects of tendinitis in his left knee. If necessary, Kyle Edmund will tackle reigning Wimbledon junior champion Denis Shapovalov.
If it does come down to a fifth match then it will be an awkward assignment for Edmund against a player with little to lose. The GB No 3 was downcast after a straight-sets loss to Pospisil late on Friday, describing his performance as ‘not good enough’.
However, victory in the pivotal doubles rubber, masterminded by GB’s Canadian specialist doubles coach Louis Cayer, has tilted this tie decisively in the visitors’ favour.
Whoever wins this evening faces an away quarter-final in France in early April, after the French wrapped up a 3-0 win against Japan, who were without Kei Nishikori.
Both British doubles players came into the match after episodes in Australia they would rather forget. Murray lost in the first round with partner Bruno Soares while Inglot and Florin Mergea missed three match points against top seeds Pierre Hugues Herbet and Nicolas Mahut.
Pospisil had the worry of a left quad muscle that required treatment on Friday, while if there is any creakiness about Nestor, it stems from pure age.
The former world No 1 is now 44 and received a tumultuous welcome for this, his 50th Davis Cup tie. While most top players — including Andy Murray and the injured Raonic — have sat out this first-round tie the crowds remain decent and there were again around 5,000 in to watch the doubles.
Britain forced the first break point at 3-3 and Inglot then faced a set point against his serve at 5-6, but produced an excellent second serve.
The tiebreak was surprisingly easy meat for the visitors with Pospisil making several errors as it was conceded 7-1.
Immediately afterwards, however, Murray suffered the first service break of the match, which was wiped out for 4-4 against the Nestor serve.
There was no Hawk-Eye in use due to overnight court repairs of dead spots, and on the second break point a shocking call went against Murray. However, that was negated on the next point due to an Inglot winner. The tiebreak was lost 7-3 and, like London buses, you suspected there would be another one coming along soon.
It was Britain that had the chance to curtail the third set when two break points were created against the Pospisil serve at 4-4. However, they could not get into the rallies so it went to a third tiebreak.
A feature had been the quality of Inglot’s all round play, and he was to the fore as GB raced to a 6-1 lead, eventually taking it 7-3.
Given the speed of the court it was always likely that these would be close sets. But out of the blue GB then took advantage of Pospisil’s periodic bouts of shakiness.
Helped by a double fault he was reduced to 0-40 on serve, and on the third break point Inglot — his returns again surpassing expectations — fired back low over the net and drew a forehand volley error that proved decisive.