Well in this post I will take another look at the Davis cup and this weekend's tie was between Great Britain and France as both teams looked to reach the semi finals of the sports largest team event in history. So let's see how they got on....
Right well the first day saw the first match between the British No.2, James Ward and the French No.1, Gilles Simon in a match that heavily favoured the Frenchman given their gulf in rankings. And the match itself reflected just that as despite a slightly nervy start from Simon, which saw him dish up a break point to James, Simon held on and held serve and after that he grew into the match with confidence and never looked back after that as he broke Ward and sealed the first set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same from the Frenchman who outclassed Ward and broke again to take a two sets to love lead. And in the 3rd set it was a bridge too far for James who could not cope with Simon's class, speed and defence and he went down a double break to seal the first point for France as Simon drew first blood and won the match in 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. The outcome of this match was never going to be in doubt and it was Simon that came through very comfortably in the end however it still wouldn't be plain sailing for France....
And this proved to be the case for them as in the 2nd match of the day the British No.1, Andy Murray took on the French No.2, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what promised to be a very stern test for Andy. And for the most part it was just that as Tsonga is a player who has big shots and a big serve and kept raining them down. However Andy managed to stick with Tsonga well on serve and he broke him at 6-5 to nab the first set. In the 2nd set Tsonga went an early break up but Andy soon broke back and play went by serve into a very tense and thrilling tiebreak which saw momentum to and fro with Tsonga having a clutch of set points. However Andy saved them all and he went to fashion a set point of his own which saw him grab the two set lead. And in the 3rd set Andy put the hammer down and outplayed Tsonga as he took a double break and sealed Great Britain's first tie point with a 7-5, 7-6, 6-2 win. This was a very entertaining match overall and Andy again did what he needed to do and was very impressive in how he dealt with Tsonga in this match who had several chances to level the match in the 2nd tiebreak. But in the end it was a vital win for GB which kept them alive for the doubles the next day.
Which brings me onto day 2 which was the doubles match between the two teams and it was debated whether or not Andy or Dominic Inglot would play in the doubles with Jamie Murray but in the end it was the Murray brothers who played together against France's Tsonga and Nicholas Mahut. And this proved to be an enthralling battle between the two teams as France took the early lead by breaking Andy's serve they nabbed the opening set. In the 2nd set however Andy and Jamie fought back and broke the Frenchmen to level the match. And in the 3rd set we got a thrilling tense fight between both teams and play went to a tiebreak where Andy grabbed the crucial minibreak to go two sets to one up, which saw Andy go wild and jump up and down! So in the 4th set it all came to ahead as Andy and Jamie took the match by the scruff of the neck and grabbed a double break which saw them seal a crucial tie point as Great Britain took a 2-1 lead with the Murrays winning the match in four sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.
Well there wasn't much doubt that this was a crucial match for both teams and it was a debatable decision whether or not that Andy should have played and it was one that could have backfired but in the end it proved to be the right one. And it also give team GB the much needed lead they required to give them their best chance in singles on the final day as reverse singles rubbers took place except this time it would the British and French No.1s playing each other.
And this match turned out to be between Andy Murray and Gilles Simon and given their head to head which was overwhelmingly in Andy's favour 12-2, it looked to be a match that he could have won easily. However it turned out to be far from it as Simon started off the stronger of the two as Andy looked fatigued after his efforts over the last two days and he made too many errors and handed Simon the break to take the opening set. And the danger signs continued in the 2nd set also as Andy made a hash of his first service game to go another break down which left things in a precarious position for team GB as Simon maintained his lead. However at 4-3 with Simon serving to go 5-3, Andy finally pounced and broke back and from here he held serve and from here play went by serve and both men played a tiebreak which saw Andy go 4-1 down at one point but he battled back to even the scores and he managed to grab a minibreak to win the 2nd set to keep himself alive in the match. And from here Andy started to stamp his authority on the match and grabbed a double break in the 3rd set although he surrendered one of the breaks back to Simon before taking the two sets to one lead with a stunning lob, which was easily the point of the match. And in the 4th set Andy took full control after Simon slipped and injured his ankle it seriously hampered his movement and took a medical timeout. And despite Simon's best efforts he could not get himself back into the match as Andy finished off the wounded Frenchman with a bagel to seal the tie for Great Britain with a dramatic 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.
This was an amazing effort from Andy Murray who really was under fire from Gilles Simon in this match and in the 2nd set he was on the verge of going a double break down but he somehow manage to fight against not only his opponent but also the fatigue from the effort he had put in over the last two days of the tie. The match itself was very entertaining and had its fair share of drama as I already stated with Andy having gone a set and a break down defeat looked to be on the cards and given that the fifth rubber would have been between Tsonga and James Ward there would have been no chance for the Brits to have won the tie given the gulf in their rankings. But if you forgive me using the cliche Andy did what champions do and he dug deep to win this one and it must rank as one of his most impressive not to mention emotional victories as after the match he sat down with his head in his hands sobbing after the sheer effort he put into not only that match but the whole weekend. And there is no doubt that team GB would not be able to be in this position without him although James Ward also definitely deserves credit in the past for some of his impressive singles wins for GB and overall as a team they really have done a superb job to get this far.
So this means that Great Britain are now in the semi finals of the Davis cup for the first time since 1981 and even more interestingly the draw is now even more wide open this time round as there will be no Serbia or Switzerland in the semi finals this season as they have already lost out this year. And Serbia's loss this weekened was pretty much entirely attributed to the absence of Novak Djokovic, who presumably wanted to rest after he won Wimbledon, which is understandable and given the effort he has made over the years for his country in the Davis cup it is no disgrace that he chose not to play. So this means that if team GB play their cards right they might just have a good shout at winning the title. And although Australia will be GB's next opponents in the semi finals, team GB will have the home advantage again and Andy has never lost to an Australian player yet in his career, which is quite an achievement in itself which bodes well for them. However the tie could still come down to the doubles and GB will need to put in a very good performance in the doubles to give themselves their best chance of winning in order to reach the final.
However it will also be interesting just to see how the US Open will go this year for Andy as so far he has not succeeded in winning a grand slam and this will be his last chance for the season in New York. But even if Andy does not win the US Open and maybe loses in the semi finals or the final he will still have that motivation and desire to win at the Davis cup and the way I see it is Andy has already won a grand slam but he is yet to win the Davis cup and this is probably the best chance Great Britain will ever have to win and I'm sure Andy will want to grab it with both hands.
So that's it for my look at the Davis cup which ended with a terrific result for Great Britain and it sets up an intriguing clash with Australia in September, while the other tie will be between Argentina and Belgium so it will be fascinating to see how it goes.
So that's me for now and I'll be back some other time in the future.
Till then bye for now!
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