A tearful Andy Murray devoted a Davis Cup win to his grandmother Ellen after revealing he missed her funeral as a result of it was the identical day as his match.
Murray gave Nice Britain a profitable begin in opposition to Switzerland by edging previous Leandro Riedi 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-4.
Overcome with emotion, Murray mentioned: “I am sorry to my household I am not in a position to be there. Gran, this one is for you.
“I spoke to my dad about it and he mentioned ‘she’d need you to play’. He mentioned ‘be sure to win’ – so I did.”
After clinching a hard-fought win over 21-year-old Riedi, Murray instructed the group concerning the emotional pressure he was taking part in beneath.
Following the on-court interview, Murray sat on his chair along with his head beneath his towel, earlier than receiving one other consoling spherical of applause from the group at Manchester’s AO Area.
It got here after the three-time Grand Slam champion confirmed his high quality and expertise to return by a troublesome take a look at in opposition to Riedi, who was making his Davis Cup debut.
“It is unbelievable to get by that one – it simply might have gone the opposite means,” mentioned Murray, who helped Britain win the Davis Cup in 2015.
“It was ridiculous the pictures he was pulling off, some superb returning.”
With Britain aiming for a spot in November’s eight-team knockout stage, Murray put his nation on the trail to victory within the opening singles match of the group-stage tie on Friday.
British primary Cameron Norrie missed the possibility to safe the win when he misplaced 7-5 6-4 to three-time main champion Stan Wawrinka later.
Nonetheless, Dan Evans and Neal Skupski secured a second straight GB win by beating Swiss pair Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Stricker 6-3 6-3.
4 nations – Britain, Australia, France and Switzerland – are taking part in within the group-stage occasion in Manchester.
All of them play one another as soon as in a round-robin format, with the highest two international locations going by to the knockout stage – generally known as the ‘Remaining Eight’ – in Malaga in November.
