Sunday, 10 July 2011

Murray clinches win for Great Britain

Murray clinches win for Great Britain

Andy Murray recorded his third straight-sets victory in the Davis Cup tie against Luxembourg to send Great Britain into a promotion decider.
Murray defeated Luxembourg number one Gilles Muller 6-4 6-3 6-1 to put the hosts into an unassailable 3-1 lead at Braehead Arena in Glasgow.
The British number one put on an impressive show for his home crowd to set up a Europe/Africa Group II play-off against Hungary, who beat Belarus 3-2.
The match will take place in Britain on September 16-18, with the Lawn Tennis Association still to decide on a venue.
British captain Leon Smith will be desperate for his best player to make the clash, which comes in the week after the US Open in September, after he turned this contest on its head following James Ward's opening defeat by Muller on Friday.
Murray followed his doubles win alongside brother Jamie with another commanding victory, this time against a much higher standard of opponent, who is ranked 81 in the world.
Murray took more than twice as long as he did to beat the unranked Laurent Bram without losing a game on Friday, but he was in complete command against Muller over the one hour and 45 minutes.
The world number four lost just four points on his service, less than he did against Bram, and produced 14 aces.
Murray, who was again watched by a large contingent of family and friends from his home town of Dunblane, broke down in tears as he was interviewed on court after the match.
When asked how much it meant to win in front of a Scottish crowd, Murray said: "I don't get the chance to come back here very often, so.."
The world number four could not finish his sentence and wiped away tears before describing the crowd as "amazing".
Murray was in more clinical mode earlier as he focused for a match against the 28-year-old former US Open Junior champion.
The pair had practised together regularly earlier in their careers and had a more recent shared experience having both lost to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, Muller in the third round before Murray's semi-final defeat.
Murray was clearly going to have to work harder than he did against tennis coach Bram and the first game took just four minutes less than his first set on Friday, Muller eventually holding serve after 12 minutes.
Murray caused his opponent all sorts of problems with three successful drop shots but Muller finished off the game with one of his own after averting two break-points, the first with an ace.
But Murray was instantly on top form with his serve, hitting two aces in the next game, and he broke at the second time of asking in the third game when Muller hit a drop shot into the net.
Muller served well throughout the 44-minute first set to ensure he made a decent contest of it, saving two more break-points in the seventh game, but he could not deal with his opponent's service game.
The visitor averted a break in the opening game of the second set with another drop shot and Murray showed signs of frustration by kicking his chair after Muller went 2-1 up on the point after the Scot disputed a line call.
Murray channelled his anger by hitting two aces in another perfect service game and a cross-court backhand soon set up break-point, which was followed by Muller's double-fault.
Murray produced two more perfect service games before breaking again with a backhand return on the second set-point.
The world number four continued to serve aggressively and kept the pressure on his opponent to break twice in the third set.
Muller averted the whitewash after losing seven consecutive games but Murray produced another ace and another perfect service game to seal the tie before Ward began his three-set encounter against Mike Vermeer, who replaced Bram.

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