Andy Murray back from the brink to defeat Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor at Davis Cup

Andy Murray battled back from the brink of defeat to beat world No 179 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in three sets. Great Britain eventually edged past Dutch 2-1 at the Davis Cup in Madrid.

Captain Leon Smith had been coy about his team selection and there had been speculation he might rest Murray given the relative weakness of Wednesday's opposition.

However, Smith chose to throw his big gun straight in and Murray took to court for the first rubber with the Netherlands against Griekspoor, and he came through a contest lasting two hours and 51 minutes to win a thriller 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

British No 1 Dan Evans went down 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to Robin Haase but Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski got the job done with a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory over Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer in the deciding doubles rubber.

Murray, who was playing his first competitive match since his title win in Antwerp and the birth of his third son, Teddy, and he looked short of fitness and sharpness. The Scot admitted he had put on a few pounds during a break from the court and he found Griekspoor to be a awkward opponent, hitting through the ball on the fast indoor court at Caja Magica.

The result was a tense opening set that went all the way to a tiebreak. Both Griekspoor and Murray created set point chances, which they missed, before the fired-up Dutchman roared as his down-the-line winner provided the killer blow as he clinched it 9-7.

Murray had only ever lost three singles matches before in the Davis Cup and responded by breaking Griekspoor at the start of the second set.

The frustration he had felt after missing his chances in the opener, fuelled a quick service hold and a rise in intensity to secure a 6-4 set and level the match.

Murray, playing in the competition for the first time since Britain's semi-final loss to Argentina in September 2016, conjured up some of his old magic to battle back from 4-1 down in the decider to 4-4.

But the 23-year-old Griekspoor, who won the Srpska Open in Bosnia & Herzegovina on the Challenger Tour in September, took the match into another tiebreak where Murray was forced to call upon all his trademark grit and determination to come through an exhausting opening rubber.

The deciding tiebreak was a masterclass in extraordinary defence from Murray, who said: "It was a very, very tough match, fantastic atmosphere.

"I think that was one of the things that some of the players were worried about playing at a neutral venue but I thought the atmosphere was brilliant from both sets of fans.

"He played brilliant. I was lucky at the end of the match. He deserved to win."

Evans lost to Haase in the second singles match to send the contest into a deciding doubles rubber.

Evans looked to be cruising at a set and a break up and served for victory at 5-4 in the second set but Haase broke back and an early break in the deciding set proved crucial.

Jamie Murray and debutant Skupski battled hard to defeat Dutch pair Koolhof and Rojer and win the tie 2-1.

Murray and Skupski were on the ropes on several occasions in the second set but saved two set points in the tie-break before a run of four straight points earned them victory.

Liverpudlian Skupski said: "We played really well today, the hard work pays off. It was a team effort today. We're just happy to get through."

Great Britain now face a showdown with Kazakhstan on Thursday, with the winners progressing to the quarter-finals. The best second-placed nations will be decided first on matches won, then individual rubbers, then sets and then games.

Check our news, reports and reaction from all major tennis events by following us on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices or our Twitter account @skysportstennis.