Rusedski Compares Murray’s Davis Cup Heroics to England’s ’66 World Cup Triumph

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Rusedski Compares Murray’s Davis Cup Heroics to England’s ’66 World Cup Triumph

After Andy Murray carried Team Great Britain to its first Davis Cup final since 1978, former Davis Cup stalwart Greg Rusedski joined the many who have been blown away by Murray’s focus and determination this season.

More: Federer Ready to Opt Out of Next Year's Davis Cup

The former World No. 4 and winner of 30 Davis Cup rubbers knows a thing about the difficulties of taking a team the distance in this grueling team competition that the will of a player every bit as much as it tests his skills.

"This would be right up there with winning Wimbledon," Rusedski told the BBC. "Andy's had to drag this team through and win [four] matches in the last two ties against France and Australia. It's an incredible accomplishment for one person to do it. This is in a different league. It's like the 1966 World Cup for England. If we win this, it will go down in sporting folklore. It's an incredible feat."

Murray and his crew won’t benefit from a home final like England’s side did in ’66 because they’ll be off to Belgium for the final, and they’re competing in a competition that has been known to suffer from a lack of big name participation, but nevertheless there is an air of improbability about Great Britain’s run that has sparked the nation’s fervor.

There’s also the larger-than-life status of Murray. Without him, the team would surely be relegated to the lower ranks of the competition. With him, they’re very much in the mix to take this title home.

After losing to Fabio Fognini in last year’s World Group quarterfinals, Murray has won eight straight rubbers—six singles—and clinched all three ties that Great Britain has played this year.

"Tim Henman and I couldn't do it, and we were both top-10 players, but we weren't Andy Murray,” added Rusedski. “We weren't as good as he is.” Murray will lead Great Britain into Belgium for the final, and he’ll again be counted on to secure two singles points. Given the way that Belgium’s No. 2, Steve Darcis played at home today, Murray will likely need to pair with his brother to snake the doubles in order to bring the Davis Cup home to Great Britain for the first time since 1936. The fact that he’s doing it without another Top-100 player on the roster makes it all the remarkable to Rusedski.

“It's an incredible accomplishment for one person to do it,” he said. “If you look at the likes of Roger Federer, he had to do it with Stan Wawrinka. Murray will have done it without a player in the world's top 100, so for me it's even more of an incredible accomplishment and up there with his Wimbledon trophy.”

Great Britain is loving every second of Murray’s inspired tennis, but to Murray it has come with a price tag attached. He’s feeling it in the back after a long summer, despite putting on a brave face over the weekend.

“I wasn’t concerned about how much I had left in the tank,” Murray said, according to the UK Guardian. “I was more concerned about my back. My back had been giving me a lot of trouble this week, the few days before the tie as well.”

The Davis Cup final will take place in Belgium from Nov 27-29. Belgium, who defeated Argentina at home on Sunday, is playing in its first final in 111 years.

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