Britain won the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years in Ghent, Belgium, when Andy Murray defeated David Goffin 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in the first of the reverse singles for an unbeatable 3-1 lead over Belgium. It was a fitting climax for the 28-year old Scot to provide the winning point, having won all 11 rubbers he played in during the campaign as the British defeated heavy weights United States, France and Australia before the clincher against Belgium.
The win over Goffin made him just the third player, after John McEnroe and Mats Wilander, to win all eight singles in the same calendar year since the Davis Cup World Group started in 1981. And it underpinned Murray's place in tennis history following his headline-making wins in the 2012 US Open and Olympics and at Wimbledon the following year. The match-up of the two national number ones came after both had won their opening singles on Friday and Murray had teamed up with brother Jamie the following day to defeat Goffin and Steve Darcis in the doubles. It was do-or-die for Goffin and Belgium against the world number two who had yet to drop a single set against the 16th ranked Belgian in previous games.
But it was a tense and edgy start for both players in front of a raucous 13,000 capacity crowd at the Flanders Expo centre where a clay court had been laid down in an effort to blunt Murray's firepower.
