Andy Murray beats Donald Young in Davis Cup opening match

By The Guardian

Andy Murray, playing in front of his home crowd for the first time since he won Wimbledon two years ago, gave Scotland – and Great Britain – plenty to cheer about by opening this 20th Davis Cup tie against the United States with a four-sets win over Donald Young.

Apart from a wobble in the third set when his concentration briefly deserted him, Murray played some exhilarating tennis to win 6-1, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in a tick under two hours. The Great Britain coach, Leon Smith, could hardly have asked for more, and might yet play Murray in the doubles on Saturday alongside his brother, Jamie, against the Bryan brothers.

There was little Young could do in the first two sets to thwart the world No5. After the disappointment of losing to Croatian teenager Boran Coric in Dubai, Murray looked more confident and energised, no doubt lifted by the loud presence of 7,000 Scots.

“Just to play in front of a packed arena here, I was born here, it’s just very special and I’m glad I managed to play a good match and get the win,” Murray said. “I played extremely high level in the first two sets and it was tough to keep that up. I was pretty pumped up before coming out here.”

The start was near-perfect, Murray breaking Young to love to take the first set 6-1 in 21 minutes, having surrendered not even a whiff of a chance on his own serve, which clicked with power and precision. The American left-hander was driven to desperation, visiting the net five times and perishing each time.

In between the whirlwind start and fighting finish, there was some glorious tennis, most of it from the Scot. While Young discovered brief surges of his best game, they did not arrive in sufficient numbers to have any impact until the third set, as nerves gripped him in front of an understandably partisan gathering.

The second set followed a pattern similar to the first as Murray drew away from Young as a Rolls Royce would leave behind a pram. The Americans’ captain, Jim Courier, looked resplendent again in suit and tie but there was little he could do to disguise the raggedness of the young player he had preferred over the perhaps more seasoned Steve Johnson.

Murray served out to 15 for a 2-0 lead after just 46 minutes and the capacity crowd were allowed the luxury of enjoying the spectacle rather than having to fret over the result.

Murray had hit just one unforced to 24 by Young in 14 games, statistics that fairly described the difference between them. But this was not mere safety-first tennis by Murray; he hit some scintillating shots from all parts of the court, dragging his opponent across the baseline, tempting him into close quarters, then finishing him with a variety of sabre thrusts, almost toying with Young.

Young, who beat Murray in Miami four years ago during one of his inexplicable slumps but was trounced when they met at the US Open that year and twice since, steeled himself for a fightback in the third.

Young went ahead for the first time after just over an hour when he held for 2-1 and was clearly rejuvenated. When a stray backhand and an overcooked forehand gave up the set to Young in the 10th game, the American bench came to life. Now we had the semblance of a contest.

Murray broke early in the fourth and hit his the first of only two double faults after an hour and 42 minutes but held for 3-1. He broke again in the seventh game (helped by a sublime top-spun lob) and added his ninth and tenth aces to clinch the rubber and send the crowd into raptures.

Great Britain has not beaten the United States in back-to-back ties since 1905, when the Doherty brothers, Laurence and Reg, carried the day. Reunited here for the first time since they played together against Luxembourg in 2011, could the Murray brothers do the same on Saturday?