Andy Murray and brother Jamie put Britain on brink of Davis Cup final

Author Topic: Andy Murray and brother Jamie put Britain on brink of Davis Cup final  (Read 1316 times)

Offline Shahriar Mohammad Kamal

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 337
  • Test
    • View Profile
The city of Andy and Jamie Murray's birth cut loose on Saturday when the brothers combined for an emotional, pulsating, five-set doubles victory that gave Great Britain's Davis Cup team a 2-1 lead in the semifinal against Australia.

It used to be thought that the loudest sound in tennis was Maria Sharapova's grunting; the reality is that nothing in this sport is noisier than 8,000-odd Glaswegians watching the Murray family represent their country, and the crowd inside the Emirates Arena would have broken any decibel-counters as the brothers dealt with the willpower of Lleyton Hewitt and the firepower of Sam Groth.

"We stuck together, like brothers should," Andy Murray said after what he described as an "emotionally draining, as well as physically draining" match. "It was an incredible match, to come back from the disappointment of serving for the fourth set, and then having a match point in the tiebreak."

And you know Glasgow will be even louder on Sunday if the younger of the brothers, Andy, defeats Bernard Tomic in the first of the day's singles matches to take Great Britain into a first final since 1978, to play Belgium or Argentina in November. If the world No. 3 were to lose that, the tie would then go to a live fifth rubber where, if the captains stick with their original selections, Dan Evans will meet Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Andy and Jamie Murray secured a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory. Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images for LTA

On only the second occasion that the Murrays have played doubles together in Scotland - the only other time was here four years ago at a zonal tie against Luxembourg - they certainly didn't have everything their own way. First, they had to come from a set down. And then, in the third set, they trailed 1-4, before scoring five games in succession.

Around the indoor hard court, and on in it, too, nerves were fizzing like a bottle of dropped Irn-Bru. With Jamie Murray serving at 4-5 in the fourth set, they fended off Australia's three set points, and then two games later Andy Murray found himself serving for the rubber, and 30-love up, only to drop serve.

Britain's match point in the resulting tiebreak was blocked by a Groth volley, and then Australia converted theirs, taking the shoot-out 8-6 when the Murrays clashed rackets. Into the fifth set we went, with the Murrays breaking at the close for their 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory.

While Hewitt and Groth don't share any genes, there was a sense of togetherness about this Adelaide-Melbourne pairing, reinforced by both wearing reversed white baseball caps, in addition to the green and gold of Australia's kit. About the only thing they didn't get right in the opening set was when Hewitt - five feet and nine inches tall - attempted a Bryan brothers-style chest-bump with Groth - six feet and four inches in his socks.

More successful were Hewitt's more traditional fist-pumps and cries of "C'mon". Just as was expected from the most competitive man in tennis, who has structured his entire year around Australia's run in the Davis Cup, Hewitt was feeding off the atmosphere and occasion. Britain had their blood ties; Australia had the bloody-minded, combative nature of this former world No. 1 and Grand Slam champion.

With Hewitt to retire after January's Australian Open, the Davis Cup is Hewitt's last opportunity to win one of the sport's biggest prizes before he goes fist-pumping into the tennis afterlife.

Alongside him was a man whose serve, with a top speed of 163 mph, could stun Highland cattle. But Groth contributed much more than big serves, playing some fine shots off the ground and at the net.

Just as happened against the French pairing of Nicolas Mahut and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the quarterfinal tie in July, the Murray brothers dropped the opening set. And, just like at Queen's Club, the Murrays came back into the match.

Both brothers have played in Grand Slam finals this season - Andy in the singles title-match at the Australian Open, and Jamie in the doubles finals at Wimbledon and the US Open - but this match was as gratifying as anything they have accomplished in 2015.

An hour or so before Jamie Murray tossed up the ball for the opening point, there had been confirmation of two things. One, that the Murrays would be playing together, with Britain's captain Leon Smith opting to change his original line-up of Jamie and Dom Inglot. The noise that greeted that announcement signified that the crowd intended to make themselves heard. And the spectators, led by a cheer-squad from Stirling University, only grew louder with every point, game and set.

[Coll.]