Wimbledon.com's highlights from Day 3 at Queen's Club for the Davis Cup contest between Great Britain and France...
Four weeks ago to the day Andy Murray lifted the Aegon Championships trophy aloft for the fourth time.
Fast forward a month and Murray, back on the lawns of Queen’s Club, has once again made history with a display of true grit and determination to guide Great Britain into a first Davis Cup semi-final since 1981.
For so long British tennis has been mocked. Murray has persistently helped raise the profile of the game on UK shores and restored credibility with his London 2012 Olympic triumph before his majestic 2013 Wimbledon run.
However Davis Cup is where Murray truly carries the hopes of a nation baring down on his broad shoulders.
The youngest ever debutant for Great Britain at 17-years-old in 2005, Murray made his Team GB bow and has since performed nothing short of heroics.
This weekend in west London was another shining example of the Scot’s unfathomable mental and physical strength.
Having dispatched the dangerous Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets on Friday, he then teamed up with brother Jamie in the doubles to secure a dramatic 2-1 lead.
Into Sunday and a forlorn world No.3 headed onto Centre Court to tackle the tricky Gilles Simon, who had enjoyed the Saturday off as a spectator.
It certainly showed in the opening exchanges as Murray, tentative with his footing after a nasty fall on Saturday, was passive in his play and allowed Simon to dictate.
The world No.11 chased down a mid-court volley to set up an early break point and secured the initiative with a bullet forehand.
Down a break 2-1, an agitated Murray could not latch onto the rapid service games from Simon. The Scot was staying in touch but Simon’s relentless consistency was keeping Murray at bay.
At 5-4, Murray sent a missile of a backhand return cross court to set up break point but the unforced errors kept piling up as the British No.1 relinquished another chance when a chipped return went long.
Simon teased the error out of Murray following a lung bursting rally to eventually seal the opener 6-4.
The home crowd fell subdued with Simon reeling off laser returns to break a perplexed Murray in the first game of the second set.
Every sniff of a chance on the Simon serve was being quashed by erratic errors until game seven at 2-4 down. Break point to Simon and Murray hit a crushing one-two, followed by a gutsy drop shot.
Surviving that hold and due to a draining 35 shot rally, Murray was floored, stretching out on the grass and begging for mercy.
However he hauled himself back up and threw down a duo of winners before Simon gifted the break with a netted backhand. The tension was palpable and Murray had managed to turn the tide with breathtaking resilience.
An ace sealed 5-4 but Simon managed to keep his composure to force a tie-break.
Having hit four unforced errors, Murray looked doomed again at 1-4 down however the gladiatorial fighting instincts from the Scot resurfaced and with a combination of smart net play and a clattering backhand he levelled for 4-4.
The 28-year-old was whipping his forehand with extra intent and pushed Simon across the baseline to lure a forehand long and Murray hit a ferocious serve to complete a remarkable resurgence to parity.
The crowd was bouncing and Murray’s body language was back to a stature of positivity.
Simon was evidently rattled and his game was beginning to unravel at the wrong time because Murray was injecting pace into his groundstrokes and was urging the crowd to be more involved.
The Frenchman missed a costly couple of backhands to set up an immediate break for Murray and the Scot snatched the chance gleefully.
Murray trudged to the sit down pointing to his head, demanding focus. He was in the zone and with Simon still misfiring, he surged 3-0 up.
Most probably due to his second set exertions, Murray gifted back one of his breaks but at 3-2 had the crowd in raptures by serving out for a gutsy hold.
Free to attack the Simon serve at 5-3, Murray capitalised on an unfortunate slip from the Frenchman to earn set point, which he then took in sublime fashion courtesy of a curled lob bang on the line.
For all his guile and defensive prowess, the embers of Simon’s fire were barely flickering now and Murray cruised to 5-0 up in the fourth set.
The sway in momentum was staggering and Murray was finding the corners and right answers with consummate ease. Simon to his despair had no answer and roared on by the bubbling home crowd, Murray raced to a 6-0 set to complete a historic win.
Having secured the three points for passage into the semi-finals, the Murray’s became the first brothers in a Davis Cup World Group tie to pick up all three points since Zimbabwe’s Byron and Wayne Black in 1998.
That proves the extent of the mission accomplished at Queen’s Club and a drained Murray was reduced to tears as he sat down to absorb the moment.
“You can’t control your emotions, it was a build up of everything from the last 10 days,” added a relieved Murray.”
Asked how he achieved such an impressive turn-around, Murray insisted the calibre of his opponent was a significant factor.
“I tried to make him work harder as I was making too many mistakes. He’s a very strange player to play against and today’s match was extremely tough,” added the Scot. “He’s ranked No.11 in the world and recently smoked Berdych at Wimbledon, who I think is sixth in the rankings, so it was going to be a very, very difficult match. I didn’t care how I won, I just wanted to win. So it’s a great result for all the team.”
The Scot revealed he is determined to play Davis Cup, despite the impact it has on his scheduling for his own ambitions in a season.
“I make the sacrifices because I believe we can win. I love the people in the team and I’ve always enjoyed playing Davis Cup.
“It makes your year longer but the memories you get from playing Davis Cup is why I’m passionate about it.”
It’s been a long journey for Great Britain under Leon Smith since contesting the Europe/Africa Zone Group 2 play-offs in July 2010 against Turkey at Eastbourne.
“What an amazing effort by Andy, what he put his mind and body through in that second set was brutal. He is an unbelievable fighter, proving today his never say die attitude,” reflected Smith. “It’s phenomenal what he finds in himself and I have nothing other than immense respect.”
“It’s a cliché but we’ve had to take one match at a time and but it’s credit to the team and all the players, who are all prepared to roll up their sleeves.”
Having surpassed France, Smiths side now face a home tie against Australia on 18th-20th September.
“Another good team who showed a very strong team spirit (to beat Kazakhstan from 2-0 down). They have an interesting mix of experience with Hewitt and youth with two of most promising guys on tour in Kyrgios and Kokkinakis,” added Smith. “It’s a big opportunity for the team that’s for sure.”
