Double dose of Murray magic
Andy off to a flier, but joining up with Jamie will be key to success
The r oof al most lifted off Glasgow’s emirates Arena for j ust one Murray yesterday. Imagine what it might be like in the expected event that there are two this afternoon.
The chances of Andy partnering Jamie in what is likely to be the pivotal rubber of the Davis Cup soared to near certainty yesterday after the British No 1 put Great Britain ahead in their semi-final against Australia.
Riding a wave of patriotic fervour from the 8,700- crowd, the world No 3 delivered the first point with an imperious performance against Australian No 2 Thanasi Kokkinakis, beating him 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 in an hour and three quarters.
The day ended at the expected scoreline of 1-1, but not before humbly-ranked Dan evans had bravely given a pained Bernard Tomic a real scare before going down 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.
Amid another febrile atmosphere, Murray had turned his match into something of a schooling for the youngster touted as a f uture Wimbledon champion, and its brevity worked in favour of the home side as they try to reach the final for the first time since 1978.
Murray can now reunite with his brother to try to repeat what they did against France i n July’s quarter-final and tilt this contest decisively in Great Britain’s favour.
The worry for Australia, even for two battle-hardened professionals like their doubles team of Lleyton hewitt and Sam Groth, is that the younger Murray looks in the mood to try to win this match singlehanded, i f required. he was magnificent again in taking down the talented but raw world No 72.
Afterwards, he stuck to the party line that it will be captain Leon Smith who makes the call about the doubles team, with Dom Inglot a possible partner f or Jamie: ‘Ultimately, the decision is up to the captain and the players go on the court with a job to do, when they get out there,’ Murray said.
however, it will surely be Murray and Murray, with Jamie having backed up his Wimbledon final appearance with another at the US Open.
‘he’s made huge improvements in his game this year and the Davis Cup matches he’s played have really helped,’ said Andy of his sibling. ‘Playing against top players in front of big crowds has shown him he can hang with them and beat some of the best.’
Britain’s No 1 player was not playing down the task ahead of him over the next 48 hours and remembers what it was like against France.
‘That whole weekend was really draining for me — and the Sunday was particularly difficult,’ he said. ‘I started slowly on the Saturday and the Sunday but, hopefully, that won’t be the case this time.’
It will not be straightforward, however, as Groth has one of the world’s biggest serves, while hewitt is as tough as they come.
Whatever yesterday’s opposition, Murray can rarely have played a more sustained high level of tennis than this, and his 93-per- cent success rate on first serves was the highest in all 215 best- of-five set matches that he has played.
The 28-year- old Scot kept his emotions in check from the start, despite t he warm- up being conducted to a rendition of Loch Lomond that made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
Kokkinakis i nitially played beautifully on the break points created by his opponent, but once the dam had been breached on the sixth of them at 3-2 the match became a tutorial for the 19-year-old, with t he Murray backhand especially potent. expect hewitt to play the fifth and decisive rubber if one is needed.
By inducing a degree of panic in his opponent, evans justified his selection ahead of James Ward and Kyle edmund, the result of the gut feelings of Smith that have served GB so well in this competition.
Twice the world No 300 — who has not played anyone of this calibre for 15 months — came back from deficits to force a tiebreak.
evans did not lie down after failing to recover from a poor start i n the first of them, l osing it 7-2 after going 0-2 behind in the second set. Nor was he daunted by world No 23 Tomic’s 27 aces.
Recovering from 2-5 in the third set, with Tomic’s nerves badly fraying at the end of it, evans used one exquisite drop shot to take it 7-4. The roar from the crowd made it f eel l i ke the arena might spontaneously combust.
The languid Australian was a picture of relief as he just about held on at the end, but he did not inspire much confidence. Belgium or Argentina await this weekend’s winners — probably whoever wins today’s doubles.