Australia v Great Britain Day 2: Davis Cup live scores, blog

Match Result: Great Britain are one rubber away from the Davis Cup final after winning an epic five set battle against Australia at Glasgow.

BRITAIN 4 6 6 6 6

AUSTRALIA 6 3 4 7 4

In a match of twists and turns, and incredible tennis, each team couldn’t take their chances as the opposition remained in the hunt.

It started in the perfect way for Australia as they served well, and won the contest at the net, to win the opening set 6-4 after a break in the fifth game.

Spurred on by the home crowd, the Brits responded, as Australia’s serve fell away.

They would break in the sixth game of the second set to take it 6-3.

Australia then had chances to win the next two sets, but could only win one, as they took the fourth set in dramatic circumstances.

In the third set, they broke early, and raced to a 3-0 lead.

At 4-2, and 40-15 on Groth’s serve, Australia had a chance to close in on the set.

Instead, the British responded, won the next 8 points and leveled at four games all.

The tide turned and the Murray brothers capitalised.

Another break, and a hold to win the set, made it four games in a row for the British brothers.

They stole the set and had all the momentum.

Australia then broke early in the fourth set, to lead 2-0.

Hewitt couldn’t consolidate the break, as the Brits fought back, and put it back on serve at 2-1.

This would remain the case until the 10th game of the set, with Australia leading 5-4.

The Aussies raced to 0-40 on Jamie Murray’s serve but couldn’t take one of them as the Brits leveled at 5-5.

Australia would concede the break in the next game, and give Britain a chance to serve it out.

Just when it looked over, Australia lifted again, with two big points at 30-30 in the next game.

The duo broke back to send the match into a tiebreaker.

In the breaker, Australia faced a match point, but held on to take the set and force it to a fifth.

Britain, like Australia in the last two sets, broke early and raced to a 3-0 lead in the decider.

Hewitt and Groth responded one last time, and broke back to put it back on serve at 3-2, in the final set.

Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t hold on, as the Murray brothers brought up two match points at 5-4 up.

They would need just one as the Murray brothers sealed one of the best doubles matches seen in the last 18 months.

It had everything. Drama, great volleying, brilliant returning, and players putting their heart on their sleeve for their country.

Unfortunately though, it wasn’t enough for Australia, and Britain have a big chance to win the tie tomorrow.

Andy Murray, who now needs to recover, has a chance to wrap up the tie for Britain.

It will be interesting to see if Wally Masur makes a change, but I doubt it, with Hewitt and Groth being pretty fatigued. Thanasi Kokkinakis is unavailable after facing Murray on Friday.

The nations hopes now falls on a player who was banished by the team, and arrested in Miami, in the last tie in Darwin in July.

What vindication that could be if Tomic wins tomorrow.

You’ll be able to follow that match, and potentially the other one if it heads to a live rubber, here at the Roar tomorrow.

Match Preview: It could be the biggest doubles match for Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray, in their career, as they face off against each other in the 3rd rubber of the tie between Australia and Great Britain. Join The Roar for a live blog of the match from 10:00pm AEST.

To put it simply, the winner of this match, will more than likely win the whole tie and send their team through to the final.

After yesterday’s performances, this was made clearer. Andy Murray, with a 3 set demolition of Thanasi Kokkinakis, looks in ominous form and will be hard to beat.

Bernard Tomic is scheduled to face him in the final rubber, but played a long match yesterday, and started to cramp late. It looks unlikely he will be fit for the match.

With Hewitt and Groth likely to play the final two ties, it looks unlikely one of them will beat Murray if the contest heads into a final tie on day 3.

On the other side of the ledger, Great Britain have problems of their own. Dan Evans, who is the 2nd singles player, looked fatigued after his four set loss to Tomic. He also had treatment for a calf and looks to be severely hampered for the 4th rubber tomorrow.

With Great Britain only picking doubles specialists, with their other two spots, this looks to be a tie Australia will win as they can pick Hewitt, Groth, or Kokkinakis to play against Evans.

As a result, of each team having an easy win on Sunday, a doubles win will more than likely send them through.

For Australia, their line-up is settled, with Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt playing. They had an impressive four set win against Kazakhstan in Darwin, and need to play like that to beat GB. Plenty of emotion, good serving, and great volleying play will make them hard to beat.

Great Britain on the other hand will know who is playing, but won’t make that public until the match is almost underway. Doubles specialists Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray are named, but I expect the Murray brothers to play.

Andy and Jamie played in the quarter final against France, and defeated the French combination of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut.

It was an impressive win against a good doubles combination, and they know they will need to do it again to give Britain the win.

This promises to be a close match, and I can’t split them. Both British players are strong, with Jamie a two time Grand Slam finalist this year, and Andy being one of the best players in the world.

Australia on the other hand have the advantage of Groth serve, and one of the best Davis Cup players to ever play in Hewitt. He rises to the occasion and will love the chance to beat the Murray brothers in front of a home crowd. From an Australian perspective he will be vital in giving the team a big lift in the vital points.

It could be an absolute classic. I’ll lean towards Australia but don’t be surprised if Britain take the honours in this must-win match.

Prediction: Australia 3-2