Andy Murray reveals his late grandmother’s funeral after sealing epic Davis Cup victory for Great Britain | Tennis news

An emotional Andy Murray broke down in tears at the end of an epic Davis Cup victory over Swiss debutant Leandro Riedi after revealing he missed his grandmother’s funeral to play in the tie.

Murray needed all his talent to claim a 6-7 (7) 6-4 6-4 victory in three hours and 10 minutes at the AO Arena in Manchester, giving Great Britain a 1-0 lead on Switzerland.

At the end of what had been a light-hearted interview on the pitch, the Scot choked up, revealing the added significance of his victory.

“Today is a difficult day for me, it’s my grandmother’s funeral today,” he said. “I’m sorry about my family that I can’t be there but Grandma, this one’s for you.”

Murray then returned to his bench where he sat sobbing into his towel.

This made his efforts to get through another long and tense battle even more impressive.

Murray had lost only three of his previous 35 singles matches in the competition and never to a player ranked as low as world number 152 Riedi, but the highly successful 21-year-old produced a performance well above that.

Having seen his gamble to face debutants Jack Draper and Dan Evans richly rewarded in Wednesday’s win over Australia, captain Leon Smith made use of his options by naming Murray and Cameron Norrie as singles players here.

Evans’ 0-5 record against Wawrinka may have played a role in his thinking, perhaps along with caution not to overplay Draper given his physical frailty this year.

Murray played a singles match against Kazakhstan at the same stage last year, but only after Great Britain were already eliminated, making it his first live singles match in the competition since 2019 and only his second in seven years.

Switzerland also sprung a surprise by choosing Riedi ahead of number two Dominic Stricker, and Murray admitted it threw him as he prepared to face a southpaw.

After negotiating an 11-minute opening game, the Scot immediately broke his serve and had the opportunity to take a 4-0 lead.

However, he couldn’t take it and Riedi forced his way into the competition, starting to cause Murray increasing problems with his big forehand and aggressive tactics.

They earned him a break when the Scot served for the set at 5-3, and Murray was then unable to take two set points in the tie-break, with Riedi converting his first opportunity with his 22nd winner.

The young Swiss, who had never beaten a top 50 player before, had his tail raised and Murray kicked his bag in frustration after failing to break in the third game of the second set.

He finally broke through at 3-3 when Riedi double-faulted, but the 21-year-old left his opponent pinned with a series of blistering returns.

Undeterred, Murray engineered another break and this time hung on with grim determination to level the match.

The 36-year-old has been in similar situations hundreds of times during his career and ultimately experience won out, although it was still close, with Murray slamming his racket onto the court after giving away a break early in the decision.

However, he broke again to lead 3-2 and dashed Riedi’s comeback hopes by winning his first match point with an ace.

Murray said: “It’s obviously amazing to come out of this, it could easily have gone the other way.

“It was ridiculous the shots he was making, incredible, incredible returns. I kept fighting and I tried to stay focused and I managed to turn the situation around.”