Kyle Edmund may not have won, but he’s shown Belgium they are in a brawl

Leon Smith, the Great Britain captain, knelt down in front of his charge – the 20-year-old who he picked to make his debut in this intimidating arena, packed with a raucous crowd of 13,000 – and like a trainer in the fight game, issued final instructions inches from his ear.

If Smith was concerned he had taken a risk by blooding a youngster in the world’s biggest team tennis match, he will have been relieved after the opening exchanges. After some nervy sparring – the first game alone lasted 12 minutes – Edmund started to settle. He shocked Belgium’s No 1 to take the first set 6-3 following some superb one-two combinations – huge first serves followed by his major weapon, his forehand.

He seemed totally at ease, picking apart Goffin’s defences, making him do all the running and putting away the half-court balls. A simple, but effective game-plan surely devised behind the scenes with the help of team-mate Andy Murray, who beat the Belgian 6-1, 6-0 in the Paris Masters earlier this month.

And Edmund looked on course for a straight sets victory too – breezing through the second set 6-1. The Belgian crowd, who began the match so brightly, were stunned. If Edmund won the match, with Murray, Great Britain’s kingpin, set to play in the following two rubbers, the tie could have been all over inside two days. It could have echoed their one and only previous appearance in the showpiece event of the competition – when they lost 5-0 to Great Britain in 1904.

But then came the sucker punch.

Goffin, bloodied but not beaten, began to counter attack. He cut out the unforced errors – especially the double faults which handed Edmund two games in the second set – and began to make winners instead. Edmund, suffering from cramp, effectively threw in the towel and when it was him who began to double fault, it was game over. He had taken Goffin to twelve rounds but came up short on the judges verdict.

Yet the South Africa-born right-hander who now lives in Beverley, Yorkshire, despite not winning a precious point for his team, might still have done them a favour. Goffin is expected to play on all three days – like his opposite number Murray – and this match might yet take its toll.

Afterwards, Edmund said: “I guess I kept him out there for five sets. They were actually very quick sets. But, yeah, I didn't think anyone expected him to play five sets today or be two sets to love down. Maybe that will be a factor.”

It could well be. And, in fact, it was meant to be Great Britain who were struggling after the first day, because Belgium have done everything in their power to make life uncomfortable for Murray. Following the glitz and glamour of the ATP World Tour Finals last week, on a hard surface, they built an impromptu court on clay – the Scot’s least favourite surface – at the Flanders Expo which is located on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Ghent and overshadowed by a gigantic Ikea.

Knowing Murray would inevitably play on all three days – a point confirmed by Smith’s selection of three singles players in his team on Thursday – the idea was to keep the 28-year-old on court for as long as possible and hope his energy and title aspirations slowly leached into the clay.

But the world No 2 showed that his poor performance in London last week was simply a blip, possibly because all of his attention was focused on this week. Ruben Bemelmans could not make it last beyond three sets – and two hours and 25 minutes – with Murray steely and spirited from the outset.

It was not without its share of controversy, though, with Murray venting his fury one too many times and earning a point penalty from the umpire, while Belgian captain Johan Van Herck nearly earned a warning from the match referee for a heated discussion about the noise levels of the crowd between points. But when it counted – at 5-5 in the third set – Murray showed his class with a string of controlled, yet aggressive points.

So at the end of the first day, perhaps Great Britain have the advantage after Belgium underestimated Edmund. He won a Challenger event on clay in Buenos Aires last week and clearly loves the surface. “I knew I had the game to beat him and I was playing well enough,” Edmund said after the match.

And his opponent, perhaps with one eye on Murray, admitted afterwards he hadn’t studied Edmund’s game.

“Kyle played an unbelievable first two sets,” said Goffin. “He was really aggressive with his forehand. He played it with a lot of power. It was tough to manage it because I didn't know Kyle before the match, how he plays.”

The tie will now certainly enter a third day and, if it goes to the wire, every sinew strained and ounce of energy expended could count, so it’s possible Edmund could still have a major impact, even if his doesn’t play a second singles.

At the very least, if Belgium did not know before the match that this would be a brawl to the bitter end, after Edmund efforts, they will now.