Ward subdues marathon man Isner to give GB 2-0 lead

ByReuters

Updated 07/03/2015 at 13:49 GMT

James Ward defied the odds to beat American marathon man John Isner 6-7(4) 5-7 6-3 7-6(3) 15-13 as Britain took a shock 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup first round tie against the United States in Glasgow on Friday.

James Ward (AFP)

Image credit: AFP

After Andy Murray beat Donald Young in the first rubber, Ward battled back from two sets down to tame an opponent ranked 91 places above him in a match where the final set alone stretched to 107 heart-pumping minutes.

Ward had missed five match points before Isner guided a desperate low backhand into the net to end an energy-sapping battle that lasted four hours 56 minutes.

As 7,000 roaring fans leapt to their feet in Glasgow's Emirates Arena, Ward lapped up the applause before falling into the arms of Murray, who had been shouting words of encouragement throughout the contest.

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"I'd prefer if I didn't have to play these sort of (long five-set) matches each time," Ward, who saw 39 Isner aces whizz by his racket, said in a courtside interview.

"But this is by far the best atmosphere I've ever been part of.

"Towards the end John started slowing his serve down but it's not just about getting his serve back in, you've got to do something with it.

"I started to get more chances at the end and he was getting fewer on my serve."

Isner is no stranger to being kept on court for hours on end, having beaten Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in an 11 hour, five minute marathon in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010.

Earlier Andy Murray recovered from a third set blip to beat Donald Young 6-1 6-1 4-6 6-2 in the opening Davis Cup singles rubber against the United States.

Andy Murray plays a shot during a Davis Cup singles match against Donald Young (AFP)

Image credit: AFP

The British number one looked to be coasting to a straight sets victory, but he was forced to expend a little more energy after a couple of sloppy points saw his opponent break in the 10th game to take the third set.

A rejuvenated Young took the first game of the fourth, but from that point on Murray was back to his dominant best as he sped through the set to hand Britain a 1-0 advantage.

“It was pretty special [the noise],” said Murray.

“I was born here, so it's just very special and I'm glad I was able to play a good match and win.

“I think I played an extremely high level of tennis in the first two sets and wasn't able to keep it up. It was emotion at the start.”

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