• Davis Cup

Two wins for Murray put GB on verge of semi-finals

ESPN staff
April 5, 2014
Andy Murray and Colin Fleming have put Great Britain in command © AP
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Andy Murray collected two victories in one day as Great Britain moved into a 2-1 lead over Italy in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup in Naples.

Murray returned on Saturday morning to complete his singles rubber against Andreas Seppi, winning 6-4 7-5 6-3, before teaming up with Colin Fleming in the doubles to beat the pairing of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-2 3-6 7-5.

British No.1 Murray will play the first match in the reverse singles on Sunday, and a win for the reigning Wimbledon champion over Fognini would put Britain into the semi-finals of the Davis Cup for the first time since 1981.

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Leon Smith has not ruled out a future full-time coaching role © Getty Images
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With Murray pulling Britain level this morning following James Ward's loss on Friday, he was selected to play alongside Fleming in the doubles, and the British pair dominated their opponents to take a two-set advantage.

However, Italy hit back to claim the third, and were on the verge of taking the match into a deciding set when leading 5-3 in the fourth. But Britain recovered to win three games in succession to wrap up the win in four sets and take a 2-1 lead in the tie heading into the final day.

"We managed to convert some chances in the fourth set, Colin came up with some good returns in the end and I felt like we deserved to win," Murray told the BBC. "Bolelli played an excellent match, he made it really tough for us and was hitting the ball huge from the back of the court."

Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka were beaten in the doubles by Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrey Golubev 6-4 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(6) as Kazakhstan went into a shock 2-1 lead over Switzerland in Geneva.

The Czech Republic remain on course to win the Davis Cup for three consecutive years after Radek Stepanek and Lukas Rosol won the doubles match against Japan to secure the tie 3-0.

France trail Germany 2-1 heading into the final day, with Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra keeping French hopes alive after they lost both of their singles rubbers on Friday.

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