What a Friday in Ghent!
World no.100 Kyle Edmund was close to make history after leading David Goffin 2-0 (6-3 6-1) in his Davis Cup debut to then dramatically implode and lose 3-6 1-6 6-2 6-1 6-0. This was a (huge) missed opportunity for the Brits, but eventually the result reflected the expectations.
Things got as planned also in the second match as Andy Murray defeated world no. 108 Ruben Bemelmans 6-3 6-2 7-5.
Great Britain captain Leon Smith stated “Obviously on paper it’s what people would have expected,”.
Edmund
Kyle was rather emotional after his defeat to comment “You’re playing for your country, you’re playing for your team-mates. You feel like you’ve let them down.
I’ll look back on it and I’ll say I did my best. But you’re right in the moment, you’re emotionally attached to it. You’re just disappointed you couldn’t do it for your team.”
Edmund was the 6th man in tennis history to debut in a Davis Cup final and he would have been the first debutant to win a live rubber. Tough luck.
The good point for Kyle is that he definitely has a shot on Monday when he is supposed to play Bemelmans.
Murray about obscenities
Things got a bit tense in the 3rd set of Murray’s match and Andy let out a couple of obscenities to lose a point after a second warning “I didn’t actually hear I’d been given the second warning. It’s obviously very loud after the point.
That was why I went to speak to the umpire, because literally I had no idea about either of the warnings because you can’t hear anything on the court. So I’m surprised he could hear what I was saying.”
The doubles
On Saturday, Andy Murray will side with his brother Jamie to play doubles against (probably) Coppejans and Darcis. The Brits are the hot favourites, but can you ever trust that in a Davis Cup final?
| HIGH VOLTAGE IN GHENT |
