Mastery of Murrays is too much for Aussies
Battling brothers put Brits on brink of Davis Cup f inal
THE day the Murrays got to play together in Glasgow was always going to be emotional, but nobody could have predicted the drama that was going to accompany it.
In a match that had more plot twists than an Agatha Christie, accompanied by more noise than you might get at neighbouring Celtic Park, the brothers from Dunblane combined to put Great Britain within one point of their first Davis Cup final since 1978.
This was the sport’s premier team competition at its best, and the sometimes underrated code of doubles played to its ultimate — and once again it forced the two siblings to reach deep into themselves to emerge with victory against Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth.
That did not come before they had squandered a 30-0 lead when Andy served at 6-5 in the fourth, or got within touching distance with a match point in the tiebreak.
While they had their extended family in attendance, it will have felt like 8,500 people were behind them inside the Emirates Arena, everyone aside from the 200 or so Australian supporters.
Andy has prioritised emulating Fred Perry this year and winning a first Davis Cup for Great Britain since 1936, but he and Jamie came desperately close to seeing that dream disappear.
It was the same as in the quarterfinal against France in July at London’s Queen’s Club, a supposedly stuffy venue where even the well-heeled members did not prove immune to the Davis Cup spirit.
There the brothers started slowly before pulling off a tumultuous win, allowing the world No 3 to come out and clinch the semi-final berth on the Sunday.
History repeated itself yesterday with a difficult first set followed by eventual victory and Andy will be hoping that it does so again today, although there remain unknowns.
How will he feel, and who will be his opponent? There is a chance the Australians will field Hewitt as the 28-year-old Scot has handily beaten Bernard Tomic — who he is scheduled to play — on the two occasions they have faced each other before.
As Australian captain Wally Masur said last night: ‘That’s brutal for Andy playing with that kind of tension but we are not out of this yet.’
It was not exactly a walk in the park for 34-year-old Hewitt either, and he gave absolutely everything, as did his bruiser of a partner who played so well in the first two sets but fluctuated far more after that.
Whoever Murray is up against it would be a magnificent effort to haul the GB team through and provide one of the most unlikely sporting stories of the year.
In the event that GB are successful today, they will face either Belgium away or Argentina at home.
Experience is everything in these situations and this was a kind where, at one point, Andy Murray had to ask his bench and the audience to calm down so he could hear the ball coming off the racket when opponents were serving.
The Murrays had walked on court to another cacophony of noise and again needed to compose themselves amid the swirling emotions created by Scottish anthems being pounded out over the sound system.
Related they may be, but again it took around a set-and-a-half for them to become completely familiar with each other’s moves.
Smart work at the net from Jamie Murray after his sibling’s sharp return gained the break for 4-2 in the second, but then Andy — who had not been serving as well as Friday — was broken for 0-2 in the third, which became 1-4.
The brothers then went on a tear, benefiting from a distinct drop in the level of Groth. The weaker Hewitt serve was finally broken, the Australians’ net play became distinctly panicky and, with the crowd roaring itself hoarse, they reeled off five games to take the set.
But this Australian team is tougher than the French, who had a particularly nervy link in Nicolas Mahut, and they forged ahead for 2-0 in the fourth, only for Hewitt to be broken straight back.
With Andy showing little emotion but Hewitt’s fist pump and ‘c’mons’ going into overdrive, Groth was having some ongoing verbals with the main British support section and the home bench.
Jamie Murray had to save two break points in the sixth game and three set points on his serve in the 10th of the fourth set after some volleying errors by his brother. Then Hewitt, whose second serve was getting tucked into by Andy, got broken again when Jamie swatted away a backhand volley on a second break point.
But from 30-0 up, the Australians dug in and with Jamie twice missing his volleys and Andy a forehand, they took the next four points to go to a tiebreak.
Amid stomach-churning tension, Britain edged to a 6-5 lead but on their first match point Andy could only scoop back Hewitt’s serve and Groth put away a simple volley.
Having conceded the tiebreak 8-6 when they came off worse during a net exchange, the British pair picked themselves up and sped to a 3-0 lead in the decider.
But in another sign of how Davis Cup pressure can erode even a Grand Slam champion’s composure, Andy lost his serve for the second straight time and the tough Australian duo were right back in it.
A long, non-tiebreak fifth set loomed before Groth cracked at 4-5 against world-class returns from the British No 1, aided by his brother’s ever-assured touch at the net.