Monday 7 March 2016 12:57, UK
Great Britain are into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup after Andy Murray overcame Japan’s Kei Nishikori in a five-set marathon in Birmingham.
The hosts and reigning champions led 2-1 heading into the fourth rubber but the British No 1 got the job done with a match to spare, booking a tie against a Novak Djokovic-inspired Serbia.
Murray eventually wrapped up a 7-5 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 4-6 6-3 result against Japan's top representative, the world No 6 Nishikori, after a lung-busting, back-and-forth struggle.
The first two sets were played exclusively on tenterhooks as two exceptional athletes pushed each other to their physical limits, with both men's service games frequently under threat for the duration.
In the opener, Murray defended break point in his first service game before moving 3-1 ahead with a break but Nishikori proved he is made of stern stuff. He blitzed the Murray serve to open three break points, eventually converting one, to reduce the deficit to 4-3 and then served himself level.
Murray's world-class defensive skills came to the fore when 6-5 up and facing the serve. Nishikori, desperately seeking a route past him, was pushed into a double-fault that paved the way for a crucial second break and the opening set.
Nishikori, often capable of matching the home player's speed around the court, immediately broke back to take the lead in the second set. Murray recovered from an adrenaline dump to hit a magnificent backhand winner, breaking Nishikori, and making it 2-2.
They slugged it out back-and-forth into a second-set tie-break which was equally as competitive. Murray took the first four points, Nishikori the next five. The Brit, as fiery as ever, gritted his teeth and went two sets ahead.
The third followed the same vein except it was not Murray who forced the late breakthrough. Instead it was Japan's top player who broke for 5-3 before taking the set as Murray's body language briefly wilted.
The Scot, who had not played for five weeks since the Australian Open final prior to Friday's opening singles, felt the pace in the fourth set which Nishikori owned. The fifth descended into a battle of heart rather than technique, with both men enduring struggles on their serve as the physicality got the better of them.
But Murray broke three consecutive times, only giving up his own serve twice, before reaching the finishing line.
In Belgrade, Viktor Troicki defeated Aleksandr Nedovyesov in straight sets to set up a quarter-final tie with Great Britain in July, the week after Wimbledon.
