Andy Murray broke down in tears after his epic Davis Cup win over Swiss debutant Leandro Redi, after revealing he had missed his grandmother’s funeral to play in the tie.
Murray needed all his energy to seal a 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4 victory in three hours and 10 minutes at Manchester Stadium, giving Great Britain a 1-0 lead over Switzerland.
At the end of the interview, which was light on the field, the Scottish player choked up, revealing the added importance of his victory.
He said: “Today is a difficult day for me. It is my grandmother’s funeral today.” “I’m sorry to my family that I couldn’t be there, but Grandma, this is for you.”
Murray then returned to his seat where he sat crying into his towel.
It made his efforts in fighting another long and tense battle all the more impressive.
Murray has only lost three of his last 35 singles matches in the tournament and has never lost to a player as lowly ranked as Reddy, ranked 152 in the world, but the hard-hitting 21-year-old performed far above that.
Having seen his gamble on debuting Jack Draper and Dan Evans pay off handsomely in Wednesday’s win over Australia, captain Leon Smith has made the most of his options by naming Murray and Cameron Norrie as his singles players here.
Evans’ 0-5 record against Wawrinka may have played a part in his thinking along with caution not to overplay Draper given his physical fragility this year.
Murray played singles against Kazakhstan at the same stage last year but only after Britain had already left, making it his first singles match in the competition since 2019 and only his second in seven years.
Murray dedicated his win to his late grandmother
Switzerland was also surprised by choosing Reddy over Dominik Stricker, the second player, and Murray admitted that he left him while he was preparing to face a left-handed player.
After negotiating an 11-minute first game, the Scot broke immediately and had the chance to take a 4-0 lead.
However, he couldn’t take it, and Reddy forced his way into contention, and began to cause Murray more and more problems with his big forehand and aggressive tactics.
They earned him a break back when the Scot served for the set at 5-3, and Murray was then unable to get two set points in the tie-break, and Reidy converted his first chance with a 22nd victory.
The young Swiss player, who had never beaten anyone in the top 50, was nervous and Murray kicked his bag in frustration after failing to break his serve in the third game of the second set.
He finally took the lead at 3-3 when Reddy double-faulted, but the 21-year-old left his opponent rooted in place with a series of powerful comebacks.
Undeterred, Murray engineered another break and stuck to it this time with ruthless determination to level the game.
The 36-year-old has faced similar situations hundreds of times during his career and experience eventually won out, although it was still difficult, as Murray slammed his racket down the court after getting an early break in the deciding set.
He broke again for a 3-2 lead, and dashed Reddy’s comeback hopes by claiming the first match point with an ace.
“It’s obviously unbelievable to get past that, things could easily have gone the other way,” Murray said.
“The shots he was hitting were ridiculous, and the comebacks were amazing and amazing. I kept fighting and tried to stay focused and managed to convert the ball.”
