Andy Murray carried Britain to their first Davis Cup semi-final since 1981 after he beat France’s Gilles Simon 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3 6-0 yesterday to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead.
An out-of-sorts Murray, who was playing his third rubber of the weekend following Saturday’s doubles victory alongside brother Jamie, looked to be in trouble as he trailed Simon by a set and a break.
Simon had two medical timeouts during the match following heavy falls and Murray, a double grand slam winner, was able to capitalise in front of partisan crowd at the sun-kissed Queen’s Club in west London.
The gritty Frenchman was able to continue despite the falls but was severely limited in his movement and could only chase gingerly as Murray moved him around the court with his pounding groundstrokes and delicate dropshots.
Murray completely dominated the final set and sealed the victory when Simon skewed a backhand wide.
“Obviously it feels unbelievable to get through that, it wasn’t looking great,” Murray told the BBC.
“The whole weekend has been fantastic. This team has done amazing things, we’re punching above our weight here and we’re now in the semi-finals of the biggest team competition in tennis.
“I’m just proud to be in this position and I hope we can do well in September.”
Britain will play Australia in the semi-finals after they recovered from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 against Kazakhstan.
“It should be a great match,” Murray added.
“Australia have some top young players and (Lleyton) Hewitt who has a lot of experience. It will be fun and hopefully there’ll be another good atmosphere.”
Earlier yesterday, ageing tour warrior Lleyton Hewitt banished a tumultuous week for Australian tennis by guiding his team to victory over Kazakhstan.
The hard-bitten former world number one trounced Aleksandr Nedovyesov 7-6(2) 6-2 6-3 in the Darwin sunshine.
After Nedovyesov blasted past the baseline to surrender, 34-year-old Hewitt slumped on his back on the grasscourt to deafening cheers from a raucous home crowd before being mobbed by his whooping team-mates.
“I love the back-against-the-wall situation. That’s what we had after day one,” the two-times grand slam champion said in a courtside interview.
“We had to rally together and find a way to get the win.
“I’ve always said some of my greatest wins are in Davis Cup and some of my toughest losses are in Davis Cup so I’m going to enjoy this.
“This is what dreams are made of.”
Hewitt’s win completed a stirring fightback for Australia, who were 2-0 down after Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis both flopped in the singles.
Quarter-finals
Britain vs France 3-1; Australia vs Kazakhstan 3-2; Argentina vs Serbia 4-1; Belgium vs Canada 5-0.
Semi-final line-up
Britain vs Australia
Belgium vs Argentina
(Matches on September 18-20)