Leon Smith hinted that he could keep faith with Kyle Edmund over James Ward as Great Britain’s second singles player if the Davis Cup final goes into a potentially decisive fifth rubber against Belgium on Sunday.
With Britain chasing their first Davis Cup since 1936, the tie is tantalisingly poised at 1-1 after the first day thanks to Andy Murray’s 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Ruben Bemelmans in the second singles rubber, but Edmund was devastated after he lost a two-set lead in his opener against David Goffin at the Flanders Expo in Ghent.
While Edmund said he felt like he had let his country down after his 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 defeat to the world No16, Smith was hugely encouraged by the 20-year-old’s performance and Britain’s captain will take his time before making his final decision.
There have been suggestions that Smith will replace Edmund with the more experienced Ward against Bemelmans or Steve Darcis if the final is locked at 2-2 on Sunday. Yet he indicated that he could stick with Edmund, the world No100 who has impressed on clay recently.
“There is, and there’s also time, which is important,” Smith said. “We won’t do anything until tomorrow night, see how everyone is, see how the doubles has gone. That’s how we’ve normally done it, that’s how we’ll do it again. There’s no need to rush into anything.
“For Kyle, obviously it was a very good first two sets. That’s why we went with him in the first place. It’s difficult to gauge it sometimes because he’s playing Challengers on clay. But I watched him when he played in Argentina, knew the matches he won, in particular in the semi-final and final. Even though he was playing people that were just outside world top 100 they were still very good clay-courters.
“But, of course, the experience of David and also the environment at some point did take a toll. He probably had to win it in straight sets or even in four. Yeah, it was tough. But I think it’s important for him to realise the level he can obviously play at, and now keep building on that.”
There was controversy in the third set of Murray’s match when the world No2 was given a point penalty for an audible obscenity. Murray, who was whistled and jeered by the boisterous home crowd, revealed that the noise inside the arena meant he had not heard Carlos Ramos give him his first warning.
“I didn’t actually hear I’d been given the second warning,” he said. 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.”
Murray smiled. “I’m surprised he could hear what I was saying,” he added.
Britain’s top player is confident that he will be ready to play alongside his brother Jamie in this afternoon’s doubles against Kimmer Coppejans and Darcis, before he takes on Goffin in the fourth singles rubber on Sunday.
“I believe in me and Jamie as a doubles team,” Murray said. “But it’s obviously going to be tough. I mean, Goffin’s a top-quality player when he plays well. He’s ranked 15, 16 in the world, plays well on the clay.
“I’m aware that will be a very tough match to win. In the doubles, Davis Cup is always tough, never easy, just because of the way doubles is played.
“I believe we can win the tie, obviously, otherwise there would be no point in us being there. But it’s going to be tough, for sure.”
