By Erik Gudris | Saturday, March 5, 2016
Andy and Jamie Murray teamed up for a straight sets win in doubles to give Great Britain a 2-1 lead over Japan.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Andy Murray and Jamie Murray teamed up in doubles to give defending champions Great Britain the lead against Japan in their Davis Cup tie in Birmingham.
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With the tie level at 1-all after Friday’s singles play, speculation was high that there might be subsitutions on both sides. While Andy Murray was subbed in for Dominic Inglot, Japan stuck to their original pairing of Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama.
When asked if he and his brother share a sixth sense when playing together, Andy Murray said, “We know each other’s games extremely well. When the ball is in a certain place on the court, I know the shot Jamie is going to hit and vice versa. I think my strengths and Jamie’s strengths make for a good team.”
Despite the Japanese team’s best efforts, the Murray brothers proved too solid all afternoon to their delight of the rowdy local crowd packed inside the Birmingham arena. Both teams stayed level with each other in the early games of the first set.
That was until Andy Murray ripped a down the line backhand return winner to break Nishioka to take a 5-3 lead.
A putaway volley from Jamie Murray in the next game sealed the set later for 6-3.
Andy Murray pounced early with his returns in the second set. He broke Uchiyama early to give his team a 2-0 lead. From there, the Murray with solid net play eventually took the set 6-2.
Japan hung tough in the third set as they kept things close.
With the set level at 4-all, it looked like a tiebreak was looming. But once again Uchiyama proved the weaker link when it came to serving. Two potent returns, one from Jamie Murray and then another from Andy Murray converted the key break point. That gave Great Britain a 5-4 lead.
Andy Murray didn’t waste any time closing out the match. At 40-0, he fired off a crosscourt ace to seal the convincing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win giving his team a 2-1 lead.
The Murrays never faced a break point all match and also won 24 out of 33 points from the net. “We played a great match. It wasn’t easy,” Jamie Murray said later. “These guys played a lot of great shots, tricky players as well. Loved being out here with Andy as well. Thanks to everyone for cheering so loudly and getting behind us.”
Andy Murray is now expected to face Kei Nishikori in an antipicated reverse singles rubber on Sunday. that may well decide the tie.