First blood: Andy Murray celebrates after beating Japan’s Taro Daniel in the Davis Cup yesterday
Easy does it for Murray, but Japan ace Nishikori poses a serious threat
ANDY MURRAY received the crowd’s acclaim — and their ‘aaahs’ when his baby was mentioned — but the business of defending the Davis Cup title will be hard.
He began the process yesterday by putting Great Britain 1-0 up against Japan in the first round, a score that was levelled by the end of day one when Kei Nishikori beat Dan Evans.
And the indications are that there will be some hard graft needed before the weekend is out, with the visitors’ top player sure to be a tough opponent when Murray faces him tomorrow afternoon.
While the world No 2 hardly needed to get out of third gear to overcome Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, the world No 6 was given a very decent test by Evans before winning 6-3, 7-5, 7-6.
In the reverse singles, Murray will need to be sharper if GB are to reach the quarter-finals, and he probably will be.
Britain’s leader conserved enough energy to play in the doubles today, although there were mixed indications about whether the duty of putting them 2-1 up will be entrusted to Jamie Murray and the big-serving Dom Inglot, who ought to be capable of it. Captain Leon Smith said later that he would put out his ‘strongest’ combination, although Andy sounded more lukewarm.
‘I maybe made a few bad decisions out there and my concentration could have been a bit better at times, but for a first match in five weeks in that sort of atmosphere against a guy who obviously makes a lot of balls, it was OK,’ was the verdict of Murray on his singles match.
He admitted he has only practised doubles once with Jamie this week.
Occasionally he did look a little distracted, and while Nishikori’s exquisite ball striking will drag him to a higher level, his match against Daniel was a reminder that repeating the life - or- death intensity of the Davis Cup last year might not be straightforward.
Pyrotechnics and a standing ovation from the 9,000-strong crowd greeted the British team, who were walking out as defending champions for the first time in 79 years.
By the end of the day it was clear that Nishikori will be relishing tackling Murray, but if it comes to a fifth and deciding rubber Evans may fancy his chances against world No 87 Daniel. The 25-year- old, from Solihull, played way above his ranking of 157 in pushing hard a player who might be a future world No 1.
Coping well with Nishikori’s skill of taking the ball early and jerking opponents around, he had three break points to go ahead in the second set before conceding it with a double fault.
He twice led by a break in the third but could not pull away. It was a lot more pleasing on the eye than the first match, and Nishikori’s chance of playing in the doubles was probably diminished by the two-and-threequarter-hour duration.
Showcasing his skills to a hugely supportive crowd in his backyard should have served as f urther evidence to Evans that his rightful place is in the top 100, even when competing away from his home turf.