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Great Britain book Davis Cup ticket back to Group One

Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins combined for a convincing victory in Saturday's doubles contest © Getty Images

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Great Britain officially clinched their place back in Europe/Africa Zone Group I after a doubles victory wrapped up an unassailable 3-0 win over Hungary on Saturday.

The doubles pairing of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins successfully killed off the contest at Glasgow's Braehead Arena, winning their match against Attila Balazs and Kornel Bardoczky 6-3 6-4 6-4. As a result, Great Britain can look forward to beginning next year's Davis Cup competition in a higher tier.

Most of the hard work had been done on Friday, when Andy Murray secured the hosts a 2-0 advantage with a 6-0 6-2 7-6(3) victory against the unranked Sebo Kiss. That win built on the earlier success of James Ward, who had won his singles rubber 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-4 in difficult circumstances against Atila Balazs.

Fleming and Hutchins were always favourites to complete the job, and their record over the past 12 months suggests Britain are developing a serious combination when it comes to Davis Cup doubles. Having reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, the duo never looked back after a break of serve in the eighth game of the match, which settled some early nerves.

The match was then all but secured when a break arrived midway through the third set, as Fleming and Hutchins accelerated to 0-40, quickly snapping up the opportunity at the first time of asking. Victory was clinched by an emphatic Hutchins smash, which sparked jubilant scenes around the Braehead Arena.

Leon Smith's men have now won four consecutive ties, propelling them into Group One for the first time since 2009.

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