Britain’s Andy Murray delivered a Davis Cup victory for his team against Switzerland on Friday before revealing that he had missed his grandmother’s funeral to play.
“Today is a tough day for me, it’s my Gran’s funeral today,” an emotional Murray said after his epic 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-4, win over Leandro Riedi at the Manchester Arena.
“I’m sorry to my family that I’m not able to be there but Gran, this one’s for you.”
Murray then returned to his bench where he sat sobbing into his towel.
The 36-year-old had only lost three of his previous 35 singles matches in the competition but needed every ounce of skill and competitiveness to see his way past 21-year-old Riedi, who was making his Davis Cup debut.
Riedi took the first set on a tie-break before the former world number one clawed his way back to win after three hours and 10 minutes on court.
“Incredible to get through that one, easily could’ve gone the other way,” said Murray.
“He (Riedi) was returning, it was ridiculous the shots he was pulling off. He made it really tough for me but I just kept fighting and tried to stay focused and managed to turn it around.”
Victory gave Britain a 1-0 lead over Switzerland.
Cameron Norrie can seal the tie if he beats Stan Wawrinka in the second singles match. If not it will be decided by the doubles.
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