Andy Murray, David Goffin win at Davis Cup Final
Gent, Belgium: Any questions surrounding Andy Murray's Davis Cup Final preparation dissipated quickly Friday afternoon as the world No. 2 closed out a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win over Belgian Ruben Bemelmans before a rowdy sell-out crowd at the 13,000-seat Flanders Expo in Gent, Belgium.
Murray's win evened the overall score at one-all. David Goffin earned a point for Belgium earlier in the day with a come-from-behind win over Davis Cup debutant Kyle Edmund, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0.
Edmund stunned many in the venue with an overpowering start, jumping out to a 5-0 before Goffin managed to take a game. Only the sixth player in history to make his Davis Cup debut at the final, the 20-year-old Brit looked to be the first ever to win his opening match.
Every slicing groundstroke off his racket elicited raucous applause from the large British cheering section. The atmosphere here is more soccer than tennis, with fans setting off air horns and banging drums at every point. Edmund said later that he was actually just trying his best to ignore all of the fanfare, to put his head down and play tennis.
He managed the distractions well through two sets, but in the third he started to cramp, and Goffin found his backhand. The combination allowed the world No. 16 to sprint through an equally-lopsided pair of sets and force a deciding fifth.
Goffin had never won a Davis Cup five-setter in which he dropped the first two sets. With Belgium's king and queen (and Belgian tennis royalty Kim Clijsters) watching from the stands Friday, Goffin finally did so by bageling Edmund.
"I was a little bit worried because Kyle was playing unbelievable. He just had nothing to lose. He played a wonderful match," Goffin said in his post-match press conference. "[But] I knew I had a chance and I had to take it.
Less than a half hour later, Murray took the court to begin his attempt to become only the fourth player in history to win 11 Davis Cup matches in a single season. Some have questioned how Murray would bounce back from a disappointing showing at last week's ATP World Tour finals. Several former British Davis Cup teammembers also voiced doubts over Murray's dedication to the team.
He answered them with a solid performance, cleraly fired up with every point down the stretch. He turned to his team along the bech as well as the fans throughout the set, pumping his fist and rallying their support. Bemelmans had more opportunities in the match than expected, but Murray's effort was strong enough for a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win.
"Davis Cup is always tough, never easy, just because of the way doubles is played. I believe we can win the tie, obviously, otherwise there would be no point in us being there," Murray said. "But it's going to be tough, for sure."
He'll be back on court Saturday afternoon, paired with older brother Jamie Murray as they take on Kimmer Coppejans and Steve Darcis in the lone doubles match of the weekend.
