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By Erik Gudris | Saturday, July 18, 2015

 
Jamie and Andy Murray Davis Cup

Andy and Jamie Murray combined their talents in doubles to give Great Britain a 2-1 lead against France in Davis Cup.

Photo Credit: CameraSport/Stephen White


In front of raucous home crowd at Queen's Club in London, Great Britain's most famous tennis brothers Andy and Jamie Murray combined their talents to give their team a potentially pivotal win in the Davis Cup quarterfinal versus France.

Davis Cup: Hewitt and Groth Keep Australia's Hopes Alive in Doubles

"We played an unbelievable high level match against a top team and absolutely fantastic atmosphere and to play and represent your country with your brother it is very special," Andy Murray said right after the win to Eurosport's Annabel Croft.

"We absolutely loved it…and hopefully we are in a good position to win the tie now," Jamie Murray added.

With the tie level at 1-all heading into Saturday. both sides made last minute substitutions for the doubles rubber. Andy Murray was given the nod to join his brother Jamie Murray while France chose a veteran pairing of Nicolas Mahut and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Despite the Murrays teaming up, it took a while for the brothers to gel as a team. Andy Murray found himself broken in the opening game of the first set. The French team held on to their lead and Tsonga soon closed out the set 6-4.

Andy Murray continued to struggle in finding his form but soon Great Britain found their way into the match. Taking hold of a rare service break, the Murrays took the second set and leveled the rubber at one set all.

The key third set looked in doubt for Great Britain after Andy Murray took an awkward spill at 5-all. Clutching his groin in agony, Murray requested a medical time out to have a trainer assess his injury. Murray eventually returned to court and a few games later a tiebreak was needed to decide the set.

Jamie Murray ripped a perfect down the line return winner to give his team the opening lead. But Tsonga responded with a great return of his own to level the breaker at 1-all. Both teams stayed even with each other and again traded mini-breaks. Now finding his returns much better than earlier, Andy Murray made his move.

Andy Murray, holding a set point, ripped a strong return that the French team couldn't handle. With that, the recent Wimbledon semifinalist roared his approval at his team taking the lead two sets to one.

From there, it was all Great Britain as the French team appeared to lose confidence and cohesion. After a fan called a French ball out that was clearly in, the moment rattled Mahut who was serving in the second game. Great Britain held a break point and it was Jamie Murray who struck a fine volley Tsonga couldn't get over.

Now with a 2-0 lead, the Murrays never looked back. They would break Mahut again at love after he served a double fault down triple break point.

A few games later, Jamie Murray served for the match. Despite the French team's attempts to break, it was too late for any last minute comebacks. Jamie Murray with a winning smash closed out the set and the match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-1 to the delight of the local fans on hand.



Great Britain now leads the overall tie two to one with Andy Murray now scheduled to face Gilles Simon in the reverse singles on Sunday. Great Britain is one win away from returning to the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 1981.

 

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