Andy Murray defeated Kei Nishikori 7-5 7-6(5) 3-6 4-6 6-3 in Birmingham, after 4 hours and 58 minutes. Great Britain started the defense of their Davis Cup title successfully, beating Japan 3-1. In the quarterfinals, they will face either Serbia or Kazakhstan.
From the start, Andy Murray didn’t seem as solid on his serve as he did during his doubles. Of course, Kei Nishikori is a much better returner than Nishioka or Uchiyama. Murray took an early break on Nishikori at 2-1, and was leading 4-1 before Nishikori started to rally back. Nishikori broke back at 4-2, when Murray had 0-40. He managed to save the first two break points, but then Nishikori got back. Murray kept his focus and fought for it. He had a set point at 5-4, but managed to win the set 7-5, breaking Nishikori at 15-40. Nishikori broke Murray’s serve in the first game, but he held the lead only until 2-1. Both players were showing above average service performances, and there was only one deuce until 6-5. Nishikori dealt with 2 set points on his serve then and forced a second set tiebreak. Murray started there very well and formed a lead of 4-0. Nishikori won 5 points in a row to make it 5-4, and had a set point at 6-5. Murray then won 3 points in a row and took the second set. Murray was growing more and more vulnerable on his service games and was broken at 3-4 and Nishikori served the set out. The fatigue really started to show a lot on Murray, he was weak on serve and was down 2-5. Murray started to be really aggressive on the return and took one of the breaks back. Nishikori then equaled the sets to 2-2. The fifth decisive set was an incredible battle, there were no handouts, no easy rallies. Murray seemed exhausted but still produced good enough tennis to match Nishikori. Murray was really emotional, and so was the crowd, living and dying with every shot and every point. There were a lot of breaks of serve, Murray was getting the better of Nishikori in the important points and showed a really clutch game. Murray produced a lead of 5-2 and forced Nishikori to save 2 match points on his serve. Andy Murray then served the match out, and after 4 hours and 58 minutes, Great Britain was through to the quarterfinals.
