Britain beat Belgium to claim Davis Cup
It was billed as Belgium v Andy Murray. Murray won. And 37 years after losing the final against the United States, Britain has claimed the Davis Cup for the 10th time in its 115 year history. It's Britain's first trophy since 1936. Belgium, who were last in the final in 1904, must continue their wait for glory in the men's tennis team competition.
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Great Britain won the Davis Cup on Sunday beating Belgium 3-1. Britain’s number one Andy Murray gained the crucial third point in a pulsating match against his Belgian counterpart David Goffin.
Before the encounter, 28-year-old Murray held the psychological edge. Goffin had never taken a set off him in their two matches on the professional tour..
Earlier this month Murray thrashed Goffin 6-1 6-0 in the last 16 at the Paris Masters. But that was on an indoor hard court.
The Belgians had laid down a fast red clay court at the 13,000 seat Flanders Expo in Ghent with the prime objective of halting Murray.
It didn’t work on Friday as Murray swatted aside Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets to level the tie at 1-1 a few hours after Goffin had come from two sets down to overcome Davis Cup debutant Kyle Edmund.
And Belgium's clay court tactic wasn’t at all effective as Murray teamed up with his older brother Jamie to win the doubles on Saturday against Goffin and Steve Darcis to give Britain a 2-1 lead going into Sunday's reverse singles matches.
After 49 minutes, Murray was a set up against Goffin. The Briton’s moment to take a stranglehold on the match and history came as the second set edged towards a tie-break.
Murray broke at the end of a nailbiting five minute game at 5-5 to give himself the chance to serve for a two set lead.
He prevailed. Chin jutting out, he clenched his fist as the 1,300 British supporters and his team mates on the Britain bench roared their approval.
However any British hopes of a Goffin collapse were rudely shaken. The 24-year-old staved off a break point in his opening service game of the third set to take the lead and then broke Murray for a 2-0 advantage.
But the world number 16 could not capitalise. Before the crowd could give Goffin more belief, Murray was back on level terms at 2-2.
It was attritional tennis after that. Murray, intent on keeping the ball deep and away from Goffin’s more powerful forehand, tried to carve out the points patiently. When the Briton tried a bit of trickery, the agile Belgian was more than equal.
The writing was on the wall for Goffin when Murray broke to lead 4-3 and held nervily to push to 5-3 with nearly three hours on the clock
The final game of the 2015 Davis Cup will be among the top clips in the video archives of the Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association as the 28-year-old converted the second of his match points with a backhand lob on the 20th stroke of a full-blooded rally.
As the ball dipped over Goffin - stranded in mid court after advancing to the net - Murray fell to his knees and on to his stomach.
Team skipper Leon Smith – his childhood coach – was the first to embrace him on the court. The rest of the team - starting from behind the advertising hoardings - arrived to join him nanoseconds later.
A clay and tear stained Murray emerged from the huddle to run over and and acknowledge Goffin and the Belgium team captain Johan van Herck.
"For all of the team, it's great to have a Davis Cup next to our name," said Murray. "We will all remember this year for the rest of our lives regardless of what happens to us in the rest of our careers. Nothing may ever top this now. Maybe we can go on to win grand slams and Olympics but this will definitely be one of the highlights of all of our careers."
There were no regrets said van Herck and Goffin. Andy Murray, brother Jamie and the other members of the Britain team were better.
Especially Andy Murray. He is only the second player to win 11 live singles and doubles matches since the top 16 world group was inaugurated in 1981. Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic was the trailblazer in 2005.
Murray is the first man since Pete Sampras in 1995 to win three live matches in a Davis Cup final.
Murray has equalled the American John McEnroe and the Swede Mats Wilander with those eight singles victories.
He's up there with legends from world tennis. But in British terms, the lad from the Scottish town of Dunblane, has set himself apart.
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