Britain reach summit on Murray’s broad shoulders

Reuters: Incredibly, improbably, Britain will end the year as world champions of tennis after beating Belgium in the Davis Cup final, but that grand title rests squarely on the shoulders of one extraordinary player.

The 115-year-old event is held up as the sport’s most prestigious team competition, but never has one individual been so instrumental in winning it as two-times grand slam champion and Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray was this year.

The 28-year-old Scot won all three of his matches in Ghent, two singles and a doubles with brother Jamie in between. The final scoreline could just as well have been added to the record books as ‘Dunblane 3 Belgium 1’.

Of the 12 rubbers Britain won en route to their first Davis Cup title for 79 years, a run that included wins over the heavyweights the United States, France and Australia, Murray featured in all but one of them.

Take him out and perennial under-achievers Britain would still be scrapping with the also-rans, as they were in 2010 when Leon Smith took over as Davis Cup captain and needed to beat Turkey to avoid falling into the fourth tier of the competition.