Reuters
Glasgow, Sept 17: Juan Martin del Potro delivered a huge blow to Britain’s hopes of retaining the Davis Cup when he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5-7), 6-3, 6-4 in a five-hour thriller as Argentina grabbed a 2-0 lead in their world group semifinal here Friday.
World No.2 and Wimbledon champion Murray looked poised to chalk up his 30th victory in 32 Davis Cup matches when he led by two sets to one against the man he beat in last month’s Rio Olympics singles final. But Del Potro, ranked 64th in the world after being plagued by numerous injuries, refused to surrender and condemned Murray to only his third singles defeat in the men’s team competition after finishing off the marathon encounter with an ace.
“I won but I still remember Olympic final. This is very important to me and my team and we are looking to reach another final in the Davis Cup,” Del Potro said courtside.
“I am so happy to be playing tennis again after three surgeries. This kind of moment was what I was missing,” added the tall Argentine.
Britain’s day went from bad to worse as Guido Pella then beat Kyle Edmund 6-7(5-7), 6-4, 6-3 6-2 in the second singles.
The big serving Del Potro capitalised on Murray’s mistakes to take the first set, which included one rally of 41 strokes.
Towards the end of the second, both players, while appreciating the backing of their respective supporters in a noisy crowd, were upset by excitable calls of ‘out’ from spectators. That happened on the final point of the set to Del Potro’s fury, the umpire declining to replay it.
The Argentine recovered to lead 5-3 with a break. But Murray saved a set point with a superb lob and drew level at 5-5 before taking it on the tie-break.
Del Potro, then showed what he was capable of producing as he pummelled winners from the baseline to bag the next two sets and leave Argentina two wins away from reaching their first final since 2011.
Meanwhile Croatia and France were tied at 1-1 in their Davis Cup semifinal clash in Zadar after Richard Gasquet and Marin Cilic both won their matches.
Gasquet, who stood in for the injured Gael Monfils, put the visitors ahead with a no-nonsense 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory against Borna Coric.
But local favourite Marin Cilic then levelled the three-day tie by beating Lucas Pouille 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2.
Gasquet, who was called into the team Wednesday when US Open semifinalist Monfils pulled out with a knee injury, blazed through the match against Coric, relying on his trademark backhand winners.
Pouille, who beat Rafael Nadal in the last 16 of the US Open, was no match for Cilic, whose serve was too much to handle for the Frenchman.