Great Britain will go into today’s reverse singles with a vital 2-1 lead over Canada in their Davis Cup first-round tie in Ottawa, in pole position to finish things off and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Last night’s 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 win by Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot over Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil means Britain need just one win from today’s two singles and with Dan Evans in the form of his life, they will now expect to advance to the last eight.
It is a sign of just how far Britain have come in Davis Cup terms in recent years that even without Andy Murray, they believe they can produce wins, at World Group level.
It’s not that long since even winning a match at World Group level was beyond Britain but Murray’s presence and commitment changed that and he will have been as impressed as anyone at the performance of his brother Jamie and Inglot.
On a surface perhaps faster than any they will play on throughout the year, it was not the most aesthetically pleasing tennis you’re ever likely to see, with serve dominating and very few chances for either on return.
But Murray and in particular, Inglot, played well when it mattered and in front of a noisy home crowd – albeit with a loud pocket of Britain fans courtside – they grabbed the initiative for their side going into today.
“Whoever wins (the doubles) has a leap going into Sunday,” Jamie Murray said. “Both teams knew how important it was, it was 50-50 going in, we knew it was going to be close, especially on this surface and we all know how to play doubles.
“So we are really happy to win the point and give our guys two bites of the cherry tomorrow.”
Pospisil, who had been so impressive in beating Kyle Edmund in the second singles on day one, required more treatment on his left knee and as the match headed into the third and fourth sets, his previously impregnable serve began to look more breakable.
In the end, it was his serve, and not that of the 44-year-old Nestor, playing in his 50th Davis Cup tie, that wavered, with Murray and Inlgot breaking for 4-2 in the fourth set and closing out the match in style.
“As the match went on we started to make a few more returns,” Jamie Murray said.
“They started to get a bit tired as well. The surface is not easy, it’s so hard on the joints, Vasek played yesterday and Nestor’s a bit older than us, so there’s no excuse really for us not to try to outlast them.
“I think we did a great job, stayed strong in the important moments, three tiebreaks the first three sets, Dom played a great game in the fourth set to break serve, that was it, fine margins.”
Evans, who was cheering the team on yesterday, will play Pospisil in the first of the reverse singles and it will take a big effort from the Canadian to reproduce the kind of form he showed in beating Edmund on day one.
The doubles, as always, was a matter of a few points here and there.
Canada had a set point on the Inglot serve at 6-5 in the first set but he and Murray saved it before taking the tiebreak 7-1, only for Canada to take the second 7-3 to level the match.
But a big double-fault from Pospisil at the start of the third swung the momentum in Britain’s favour and from then on, they always held the edge.
Having taken the tiebreak 7-3, the momentum was with the British pair and they finally broke the Pospisil serve for 4-2 in the fourth set before Inglot served out with ease.
In theory, the match could yet go to a decider between Edmund would take on Denis Shapovalov in the decider, but Evans has the tie in his hands..
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