Sunday 20 September 2015 13:27, UK
Andy Murray and his elder brother Jamie defeated Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth in doubles action to hand Great Britain a sizeable advantage over Australia in their Davis Cup semi-final.
Great Britain now lead 2-1 with two singles matches remaining - Andy Murray plays world No 23 Bernard Tomic in the first of those on Sunday and a win will confirm a Davis Cup final against Belgium or Argentina.
The opportunity was set up by a gritty 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 win on Saturday afternoon in front of the Murrays' countrymen in Glasgow, whose vocal chords took a hammering as Australia saved a match point in the fourth set to force a decider.
The Scottish brothers showed their rustiness as a doubles pairing occasionally in the opening set, confusing their movement to hand their opponents some gift-wrapped points.
A more pressing issue for the Murrays was the colossal serve of Groth, who signalled his intentions from the first service game by delivering bombs down the court that proved hard to handle.
Groth's battle against the elite returner Andy was fascinating but was won by the Australian in the first set. In the final game of the set, Andy's notorious ability to stifle big servers eluded him as he twice failed to get Groth's deliveries back over the net.
Prior to that, Australia opened a break advantage to go 3-2 up when the Murrays lost track of their own movement and Hewitt played the ball into an empty space.
With the once vociferous crowd briefly muted, Great Britain rallied them by earning the only break of the second set to go 4-2 up after five games dominated by the server.
Jamie's knowledge as a specialist doubles player (he was a runner-up at this year's Wimbledon and US Open with regular partner John Peers) came to the fore with some clever work at the net, hitting a smash then a volley at the crucial moment.
The Scots in the crowd found their voice as steered the Murrays to easily keep hold of their service games and coast towards claiming the second set.
It was Hewitt, the former world No 1, who next stepped up with two clever points as Australia broke at the first time of asking in the third set. The one-time Wimbledon and US Open winner hit a pair of stylish winners in the following game too.
But his partner Groth, the world No 54 in singles, couldn't meet Hewitt's high standards and three wretched games in a row aided Great Britain's consecutive breaks. A succession of shots that hit anything except their intended target allowed the Murrays to overtake the visitors - Jamie put them a break up with a sensational jumping volley.
The ball was next in the hand of the world No 3 who led Great Britain to the third set.
An early exchange of breaks in the fourth was followed by the visitors opening up three set points which were vanquished before a further break for both sides.
The Murrays had served for the match but faltered, then wasted a match point as the Australians won the tie-break.
Yet the momentum swung immediately to the home pair, who broke Groth's huge serve then held to love, taking the first three games. The tough Australians, inspired by the veteran Hewitt, ruggedly broke back but then lost their serve in the final game to end a gruelling battle.
Andy Murray could now wrap up Great Britain's Davis Cup semi-final if he beats Tomic on Sunday, which he has done easily in their two career meetings so far.
