By Ros Satar
- Great Britian lead Australia 2-1 in the semi-final
- Andy Murray leads Bernard Tomic 2-0 in their head to head
- If required, Dan Evans is down to face Thanasi Kokkinakis, but could face Sam Groth as an option
Glasgow, Scotland – Andy Murray will once more look to carry Great Britain home as Great Britain head into the final day of the Davis Cup semi-final 2-1 up over Australia.
After Leon Smith’s gamble to play World No. 300 Dan Evans just fell short, it came as absolutely no surprise that he opted to use Andy Murray alongside brother Jamie for the all important doubles.
Yet that too so nearly backfired, as the brothers started slowly against Lleyton Hewitt & Sam Groth and wound up being a five set thriller. With Wally Masur and Hewitt admitting they had options after keeping Murray out there for four minutes shy of four hours, Murray will have scant time to recover.
The assumption is that he will face Bernard Tomic, who hits a quirky style of ball and an unpredictable way of mixing things up. Yet Masur has a team of four singles players that he could call upon and given how fatigued Tomic looked towards the end of his singles rubber against Evans.
It has been a while since the World No. 3 has faced the Aussie veteran, beating him in San Jose for his first title win in 2006. With the end of Hewitt’s career on the tour fast approaching, and knowing just how much he loves Davis Cup, Masur may well want to throw him into a live rubber to give him a chance.
Against Evans though, the option is either Thanasi Kokkinakis, who is exuberant and has made the most out of all his opportunities to climb the rankings, or the huge serving Groth.
If it comes to a fifth rubber, Groth would most likely be far too much for Evans, but given all three players stayed out on court for the same time, and Groth at times looked bothered by the crowd, it would be both genius and a gamble on the side of Masur.
On paper it really is on Murray’s racquet to lose. As tired as he looked in a couple of loose games, he still looks a lot fresher than he did when he had to face Gilles Simon at Queens in that same pivotal rubber, so we would favour the Brit to get the job done, but most likely to be put a little through the wringer along the way.
The final day of the Davis Cup semi-final between Great Britain and Australia will start at 1pm at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow.
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