Murray beats Young, Britain leads US 1-0 in Davis Cup
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Andy Murray quelled a mid-match comeback from Donald Young to win in four sets Friday and give Britain a 1-0 lead over the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Murray won 6-1, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in his first match in his native Scotland since winning Wimbledon in 2013.
The fifth-ranked Murray dropped only five points in seven service games in the first two sets, but was broken — for the only time — in the final game of the third set as Young finally found his range with his forehand.
A sliced-volley winner on his first match point was greeted with repeated fist pumps by a relieved Murray, who has won all eight of his singles matches on hard courts in the Davis Cup.
“I played an extremely high level of tennis in the first two sets and it was tough to keep that intensity up,” said Murray, who was born on Glasgow. “I had a lull in the third set and he managed to settle.”
James Ward will play John Isner in the second singles match later Friday. The doubles match is on Saturday.
The U.S. team lost to Britain 3-1 last year in the first round. That was Young’s first and only previous Davis Cup appearance, and he won only six games in a loss to Murray in the opening singles match on that occasion in San Diego.
The rematch threatened to be another crushing experience for the 47th-ranked American, who arrived in Glasgow in form after reaching the semifinals in Memphis and the final in Delray Beach last month. A section of a partisan home crowd chanted “Easy, easy, easy” at 2-0 in the first set after Murray won the first of three straight service games to love. His first dropped point on serve was in the second set.
It was a measured display by Murray, whose popularity in Scotland might have increased following his public display of support for Scottish independence on the day of the historic referendum in September. He received a rapturous welcome when he came out for the national anthems ahead of a resumption of the Davis Cup’s oldest rivalry.
Some questioned whether that tweet affected Murray’s commitment to the British cause but his post-match celebrations seemed to answer that. After shaking hands with the Americans and his teammates, he ran back onto the court and jumped in the air, clenching his fist at the same time.
Murray lost in the quarterfinals in his two tournaments since losing the Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic.
This article was written by Steve Douglas from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
