Great Britain reach Davis Cup semi-finals with victory over Serbia

Kyle Edmund proved there is more to British tennis than Andy Murray, as he helped the visitors reach the semi-finals of the Davis Cup in an eventual 3-2 win over Serbia on Belgrade clay.

The 21-year-old from Yorkshire claimed his second straight-sets victory of the tie, beating Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 34 minutes.

However, Edmund had to survive a third set wobble when he served for the match at 5-4, only to be broken for the first time.

Lajovic, the world No 81, took full advantage by holding his own serve and then almost broke Edmund for a second time when he twice held set points in the long 12th game.

But Edmund kept his nerve and rallied from 2-4 down in the tie-break to win five of the final six points and book Great Britain a semi-final berth against Argentina.

It made James Ward's clash with Janko Tipsarevic a dead rubber, which the Serbian veteran won 6-2 3-6 7-5.

Overall, it was a largely confident display of powerful and attacking tennis by the young Brit whose booming forehand was often used to keep his opponent pinned to the baseline.

Lajovic played his part in the contest but, just as it appeared he was about to claim the third set, world No 67 Edmund hit back to secure one of the most important wins of his career.

On Friday, Edmund lost just seven games as he crushed Janko Tipsarevic in the opening rubber of this quarter-final.

And his victory over Lajovic two days later, spared James Ward from having to play a 'live' fifth rubber, following the Surrey player's straight sets defeat in the opening round of singles.

World No 2 Andy Murray sat among the British squad and celebrated as Edmund beat Lajovic who was playing on his favourite surface.

Leon Smith's squad will now face a home tie against Argentina, who took an unassailable 3-1 lead against Italy in Pesaro.

The contest was played in gloom and often light drizzle, as the Davis Cup holders posted a first win at World Group level - without Murray - since 1986.

British captain Leon Smith was full of praise for Edmund, saying: "He has every reason to be immensely proud. He was brilliant today.

"He's improved so much physically. His forehand is so huge, such a great shot. His serve is better, his backhand is rock solid."

And a disappointed Lajovic was magnanimous in defeat, adding: "It's a big difference if Andy plays or not. But Kyle didn't show any inexperience. He knows how to play on clay. He has a great forehand with a lot of spin.

"I feel I did the best I could under the circumstances. He was the better player today. The forehand is his best weapon and it made the difference today." 

The match against Argentina, who GB have not beaten since 1928, is most likely to be staged in Glasgow.