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Great Britain's Andy Murray was out of action today against Kazakhstan at the inaugural Davis Cup Finals as team captain Leon Smith decided to rest the former world No. 1. On Wednesday, Great Britain defeated Netherlands 2-1 to kick off their campaign at Caja Magica in Madrid with a win.
Murray, 32, brought the first point to Great Britain after he edged out world No. 179 Tallon Griekspoor 6-7 (7) 6-4 7-6 (5) in the opening rubber of the tie after nearly three hours of play. The Briton couldn't convert his lone set point of the first set as Griekspoor realized his second set point to win a tight opener.
Murray blew an early second set but made no mistake after earning the second break of the set in the seventh game. The three-time Grand Slam champion then recovered from a break down and a 4-1 deficit in the third set tie-break en route to earning a comeback win against Griekspoor.
Murray was replaced by 2018 Australian Open semifinalist Kyle Edmund, who beat Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin in the opening rubber. Dan Evans failed to beat Alexander Bublik in the second rubber but Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski delivered against Bublik and Kukushkin in the decisive rubber to give Great Britain a quarterfinal spot in Madrid.