Italy v GB - Day 3 Part 1 Davis Cup

JOHN INVERDALE: Great Britain waited 77 years for a new Wimbledon

champion. The waiting is over! 78 years have passed since Great

Britain lifted the Davis Cup. On behalf of the British Davis Cup

team, I desire to express to you our great appreciation. Can Andy Murray

and Great Britain take one step further towards their Davis Cup

dream today? James Ward is doing his country proud out here. It is a big

day for the team, two bites at the cherry. Wimbledon champion first.

What a match this is turning into. Can Britain finish the job? Everyone

is pumped up and motivated. A huge prize at stake.

Hello, it is a Sunday morning for a bit of tennis history. Never mind

the fact that it is 78 years since Britain won the Davis Cup, it is 33

years since they reached the semifinals, long before Andy Murray

was born. It is a simple scenario over the next who knows how long?

Great Britain have to win one of the last two remaining singles and I am

sure 99% of you watching would prefer Andy Murray to do that to

spare us the agony of a deciding rubber between James Ward and

Andreas Seppi. This is what team captain Leon Smith set up that

perhaps decisive doubles victory yesterday. It is a great position to

be in, that was our best opportunity to go into the last day to -1 up,

otherwise it would have been very difficult. Now the confidence is

very high. When you get that Davis Cup rubber, it really gives you a

huge lift and now we can go into this with a lot of confidence,

knowing we have two bites at the cherry. We have a Wimbledon champion

going first up, which is a great position to be in. And I know how

motivated and it will be for the team to get over the line, but at

the same time, I think it will be a real dogfight, a very difficult

match against a high-quality player. Well, these are live pictures, Andy

Murray walking onto the court now for his match against Fabio Fognini,

the Italian number one and the world number 13. Just to re-emphasise what

Leon Smith said, this will be a very hard, but from those pictures, he is

looking reasonably relaxed. The scenario is that of Great Britain

were to get a victory today, either through Andy Murray or James Ward,

it would put them into the semifinals against the winners of

Switzerland and Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan taking an extraordinary

2-1 lead with victory over Federer and Wawrinka in the doubles, but

they are playing in the reverse singles for Switzerland today so you

would think perhaps they would win that. The Czech Republic are already

through and Germany take a 2-1 lead into the singles in Nancy against

France. But all of our attention for the moment at least is Andy Murray.

John Lloyd and Dominic Inglot are here. Andy has a great record, he

must start the favourite? I don't think there is any question about

that. I thought he looked a little bit tired in the last three or four

games in the doubles, but who wouldn't be after playing two

matches yesterday? I think he will be fine. I think there will be an

early charge from the Italian which will have to be alert to at the

beginning, because the crowd will get behind him, but I think he is

too good a player now. His presence there when he steps on court, he

looks like he will win every match he plays, even on clay, which his

worst surface. Fognini is a formidable player, especially on

clay. He has won 40 out of the last 52 matches in the last year and a

half, he has won three tournaments is, so he is competent, surface.

Andy, he is weaker on the surface, but the doubles will give him a lot

of confidence and if he can quieten the crowd, that will give him a

boost because Fognini will use the crowd to get that energy. Fognini is

subject to mood swings, it is fair to say and if things go wrong thing,

do you think that will be it? I wouldn't count him out early on if

he has a mood swing and starts playing badly, because we saw in the

doubles yesterday, a little bit of flair and the Italians can string

off winners from anywhere, but I wouldn't count out that if Andy

Murray goes up 2-0, the match will be over. We can look at Andy

Murray's record in single since he was date --his debut when he was

18. Lot of these are not household names, but the only defeat he has

ever suffered in the Davis Cup singles was his very first match

against formidable Wawrinka. Jana which is now obviously a serious

player, Ivan Dodig is not to be dismissed, and is that victories

against the US that has put Britain in this position. And we don't ready

once the agony of James Ward against Andreas Seppi to be the deciding

factor, do we? I think, all things being taken into account, you

wouldn't think that James could beat sappy on the surface. -- Andreas

Seppi. I would say it is a 70-30 match in favour of Italy, but I

think as we have seen in the past, it doesn't necessarily mean that if

you are the best player and he will win in the Davis Cup. It is

unpredictable and James Ward has a good record, but the odds will be

against it. You were involved in the tie in the USA, Dominic. How will

James Ward be feeling, watching Andy Murray playing? There will be a part

of him, as a competitor, a sporting animal, saying he would love the

opportunity to be the hero of the hour later on, but the other half

would be saying, I would rather not be in that situation, do the job and

we can move on. He was in a very similar situation in the USA,

sitting next to me and watching Andy playing and he was obviously

cheering for Andy, because he is thinking, you know, it is easier if

I don't have to go out there. I did my job, I got a win, job is done, we

can all go home. At the same time, he is preparing himself, getting his

food in, as if he is ready to go out there, so I think he will relish it

if he has the opportunity to play but he will of course be supporting

Andy. If you were Fognini, how do you play Andy Murray in the kind of

form he has been in the last couple of days question mark how does

Fognini vary his game to undermine the Andy Murray game? He will be

saying to himself, look, I have beaten everybody on clay, this is my

best surface, this is my home and I am going to go after Murray and the

unpredictable, as he is, Gopher shots. What you mean, go after him?

Not hold back, I think he will go the big winners, drop shots, vary it

as much as possible and get Andy out of his comfort zone. If Andy is

dog-eared and digging out the ball so well, as we know he can, there is

only one winner and family, and he will be serving big --for me.

Fognini will have to serve a lot of first serves and he will attack Andy

whenever he has the chance to, keep the rallies and nice and deep.

Anything short, he will be punished. It is a tough match for him. We

talked about Fognini yesterday and the point you made repeatedly is he

doesn't have a big serve. Less important on clay than other

surfaces, but it does put a huge amount of pressure on his first

serve, because the second serve you can attack in a big way. You have to

be careful, because in doubles, you can attack it but the ball can only

come back in one direction. If you attack the serve, the ball comes

back faster toward you. If it goes away from you, you have less time to

recover, so to time as you have the mix and match it and catch your

opponent off-guard -- sometimes you have to do. Yesterday, we saw there

was a huge amount of British support for Andy Murray and Colin Fleming,

which was fantastic, especially in those nerve wracking moments towards

the end of the match in the fourth set when it looked as though we

might go to a deciding one. We can see a few empty seats, I wonder if

some of the Italians who have tickets think, our man will never

beat Murray, it is all over. But if Fognini gets off to a good start,

the Davis Cup has a great history of turning normally calm tennis courts

into their pits. I think it will be a lot louder and credit to the

British support, 700 of them, they have been remarkable and have

quelled it to a certain extent. It is also because we have played so

well. But I agree, if Fognini can get off to a good start, this crowd

will be buzzed and it will make things more difficult for Andy. The

first set is critical. Dominic, we can see Andy, looking very chilled,

and obviously you were with him in the USA, what is he liked for the

two or three hours before walking out on court? He will be very

relaxed. He is very confident in his ability, he knows he can go out

there and closer he gets to the match, the more he will focus.

Robbery stay a little bit away from the team but he will accept

people's hopes for him to do well but his mind is very much on the

game and preparing, stretching, doing his exercises. You don't want

to bother him too much ten or 15 minutes before he plays. As

captain, John, will Leon Smith have one ear on what happens in Geneva?

We are not counting any chickens but if Andy is favourite here and maybe

get in the ascendancy, one percentage of that mind is going to

be thinking about the semifinal, which will be at home against

Switzerland, or away against Kazakhstan. So they are all going to

be very interested in what is happening in Geneva, aren't they?

They are. You can't help your mind wanders, you are the captain or the

coach and you are looking ahead and thinking, what if? And whatever Leon

is saying, he will say he is taking one match at a time, the old cliche,

but trust me, he is thinking that if we can win this match and have a

match against Switzerland at home, the biggest match in how many years,

right up there, maybe the biggest ever hope match in the Davis Cup...

We were discussing last night where they might stage that and we were

speculating that it would be under the roof on Centre Court, what an

occasion that would be. Do you expect Switzerland to come through?

I expect Switzerland to come through and I think France will. They are

teams that are down 2-1, and I think Italy will not come through at 2-1

down. If France were to come back to win against Germany 3-2, we are

assuming the reverse singles are going to be played with Jo-Wilfried

Tsonga and probably Julien Benneteau, it would be only the

eighth time in the history of the top tier of the Davis Cup that

anyone has come down from two matches to love them, so it would be

a considerable achievement for the French. All of the other matches are

being played indoors, this is the only one outdoors, which didn't look

a great idea on Friday when the rain was pouring down and we were delayed

by several hours, but the forecast for today is good and let's hope

that the forecast is set fair for Andy Murray. We know you have

enjoyed watching the coverage over the

enjoyed watching the coverage over last couple of days, because we have

had a huge response, but if you would like to contribute your

thoughts on the Davis Cup generally, where the potential Davis Cup

semifinal might be played, then obviously you can go to the BBC

website or Twitter and if you don't have the ability, because it is a

Sunday and there are a million things to do other than watch

tennis, we know that, but if you can't watch every single ball hit

with us, listen to Radio 5Live, Radio 5Live sports extra or the BBC

website has ball by ball tax payer on what is going to happen over the

course of the next two, three, four, who knows how many hours? So let's

join Jonathan, who will hopefully be describing a bit of sporting history

over the next few hours. Good morning. Absolutely, let's

home. Lovely conditions in Naples. I have seen a different forecast,

though, and a couple of storms are loitering in the area for this

afternoon but the forecast in Italy has been spectacularly wrong for the

last two days so let's hope it is again today. And let's hope this man

can finish the job, from a British point of view. One more win and

Britain are through to the semifinals, and what a far cry from

March of four years ago, when we all headed out to snowbound Vilnius and

Britain lost to a nation with only for professionally ranked tennis

players -- four professionally ranked tennis players in Lithuania.

No shooting for the Davis Cup semifinals.

Since that weekend, we have come back under Captain Leon Smith

against Turkey, Tunisia, Luxembourg, Hungary and, at this

stage, Britain are still in the lower divisions. Slowly but surely,

through the groups, the Slovak Republic, Belgium, fantastic victory

over Russia in Coventry... And Croatia last year, winning a

play-off to get back into the world group and an historic win in the

United States in February. And the comeback, I guess, complete, because

Britain really hasn't known victories in the world group for so

many years. A bit of luck for Murray in the

opening game, hopefully it will set a bit of a tone for the day. Good

morning, Dominic. Good morning. It looks like Andy already got a bit of

the net cord luck. It certainly happened two days ago.

Both sets of crowds are very loud early on in the match. The Italians

are getting fired up, the Brits are fired up.

You can see how close Andy Murray is on that second serve, stepping three

or four feet inside the baseline to try and crunch that ball.

Get him in defensive mode from the start.

He might have a little bit of fear about him but Fognini of bubbled

yesterday, because, admittedly it is only half court in the doubles, but

Murray was belting it back at him from two feet from the baseline and

then charging at him. He's not used to it.

That is wild. Towards the end of the doubles yesterday, he whacked the

ball into the Bay of Naples and that wasn't far behind. And the early

break for Great Britain, the perfect start for Andy Murray and for the

travelling supporters. And there we go. The boys were talking in a

studio about the importance of a quick start to rattle this hot head

of an Italian. We already see him chatting away to the captain, who

could be in prolonged afternoon. -- in for a long afternoon.

At least the way to think about it, really, is if there is ever a time

to get broken, it is the first game. It gives you the most time to break

back. It is still early days, a lot of tennis to play. But obviously not

the best start. Andy Murray won the toss and elected to receive. That

decision paying dividends. In that first and second serve, the

crowd whistling when Andy missed the first serve, and that is what you

expect. You haven't seen it the first two days, but you wouldn't be

surprised if there is a point penalty at some stage. They are into

this match and they will try and help in in any way possible.

Co-commentator-macro That was a deep second serve from Murray.

To hit that much power to get past Andy Murray, from that distance,

that is a ferocious looking forehand.

The different in positioning both men. Fognini very deep. Very

choosing to stand as close to the baseline as possible. It will

probably be the theme of the day. Leon Smith to the left, the British

captain. Co-commentator-macro Looking very

calm, but inside, the stomach is churning.

Both players have come out very aggressive. You mentioned that they

would. They are trying to settle in, but I think as the match

progresses, they will get more and more clinical in their aggression.

It is going to be a very good match, I think.

JOHN LLOYD: That is a bad error. A very bad error, there. It is

unusual. He has a flair player but break point on the second serve, he

is better than that. That is still nerves creeping in.

Well done, Fognini. What a rally that was. Expect a few of those

exchanges over the next few hours. What a backhand on the stretch, he

just afflicted with his wrist. That is the kind of shot he can pull out,

not many people can do that -- he just flicked it. It was almost like

Al forehand, there was so much bottom and honoured. -- bottom

hand. Saved by Murray is favourite serve.

That is the big advantage that Andy Murray has with his first serve, he

can get cheap points. The dividends that can bring in a match, break

point down, just throw the ball up and crack it in the corner. Not

getting involved in a long rally. Another spectacular rally in the

early stages. Fognini shovelling out those backhands. Goodness me, his

defence is strong. That is an example, in that rally, of why he's

13 in the world and one of the world's best play players, even

though Heald MacLeay lost this point. Murray had to work him around

the court just to grab that point. The quality we have seen already, if

they can keep this pace, they might have to be carried up. -- carried

off. The second serve stayed in, just. He

has to make sure he accelerates on the second.

That shot right there, that is going to be a very important one for Fabio

Fognini, because Andy Murray covers the court so well but the one thing

you might say is that when he goes back behind on the clay court, he

isn't able to change direction as well as he does on the hard court.

The clay-court specialists are much better at that so Fabio needs to do

a lot more of that to get through Murray's defences.

That is one of the rallies of the tennis year so far! You won't see

anything better than this. The best stuff was nearer the start

of it. How Fognini kept one ball alive, I don't think Murray was

expecting it to come back and yet he hit the line with his response. This

is only the second game! Steady on, folks.

The crowd thought a previous shot of Murray's was wide but it was on the

line. Fognini keeps the game alive. The start of this is continuing the

theme of the weekend, a terrific contest between these two nations.

Even Murray's straight set wins against Andreas Seppi was a hugely

entertaining affair. A quarter of an hour played, Fognini

has played some stunning tennis, and yet he has nothing to show for it.

2-0 Britain. The message there that Murray threw out to the Italian,

play your best stuff and you still don't break me. It is a big

message, because Fognini, he can't play a better game than that,

really. The pace, the movement, the defensive ability and then the

attack as well, when he tried, and he still came up short.

With the hitting going like this, if it keeps going like this, the fact

that you mentioned, John, the previous matches this weekend, are

you going to get affected by it? Who is going to start feeling it

soonest? It could be difficult to keep up this kind of level.

Those two forehands there in a row that Fognini hit were world-class,

that is an understatement. Best in the world. That one, how he got that

that deep and that hard and ran about half a mile to hit that one

against Murray. Those are two devastating blows.

There is that variety that we talked about as well. He has got all sorts

of shots. He is unpredictable. It is going to be difficult to know what

he's going to come up with. Good play from Murray. That is one

way of stopping Fognini in long rallies. Fognini made the conscious

effort to hit the second serve the hardest he has hit, he belted it,

Murray took it even earlier and responded with such a short

backswing and so much pace he could not do anything about it.

Very good disguise, there, excellent disguise. Had a double hander

prepared, held it for so long, and then at the last second.

A very skilful player with a wonderful recent record on clay. A

terrific record as well when representing his country in Davis

Cup. But so, too, does Andy Murray. He is out there on his own today but

of course he has got the support of his team-mates and the back-up GB

staff, led by his captain, Leon Smith. This is something, we are

going to have to support Andy as much as we can and get behind him.

It is doing to take a big mental and physical effort to win this match

over five sets against a clinical player. But Andy, funny, is a

player. And I think Andy, his Davis Cup record is support. He has looked

brilliant all weekend. -- it is superb. He is playing very well,

improving all the time and he looks very good. He has done as well so

far in this atmosphere, inside this temporary stadium, built right by

the Bay of Naples. It is an established tennis club but the

stands are not there and ran the year. They have done an excellent

job with the infrastructure. There have been some problems with the

court surface, far from ideal around the edges, as we have noticed in the

last couple of days. Thankfully, no incidents in the top left corner as

the lookout in the court, that is where the problem has been. Pascal

Maria is the umpire, from France. Often having to take on a crowd

control role as well as his officiating duties. I think any

latecomers who have beam milling around the club getting some

refreshments have heard the crowd and want a piece of the action, and

quite right too. A super start to this. 2-1 with a break of serve.

Best of five sets in the Davis Cup. So a long way to go. I hope you

haven't got too much planned for the next couple of hours! We just know

you are going to get hooked in by this.

It is like going to a concert and they play their three best hits in

the first three numbers! The crowd is the loudest it has been since the

match started a few days ago. This is an animated crowd today,

fantastic. He wanted the umpire to have a look.

Needed to make absolutely certain, Pascal Maria is certain, definitely

long. Trying to improvise there in some

weird and wonderful way! Not quite sure what he was trying on that,

where the feet were going, it looked interesting but he missed it by

miles. Once again, just so nice when you

get those points in a difficult game, so welcome, in comparison with

Fognini, he has to earn every point on his serve. Which is a rarity on

clay. Perhaps if you don't see much tennis

for the rest of the year apart from around Wimbledon and this is an

introduction to clay-court tennis, there is a huge difference. It is

almost a different sport at times, the sliding, the recovery. You

cannot do as much damage with serve. But you can do damage with spins,

and that is the beauty of clay. When he hit a shot like that, he can do

damage anywhere. The pace that he had to deal with their, and then

timed it to hit a delicate drop shot from that distance. That is talent.

Sometimes he has too much talent, he plays the wrong shot because he has

20 different options. He then gets carried away and throws in a double

fault. Sometimes you feel like, if you like

telling him that, that great point you played was great but you do not

get any bonus for it, it is only worth one point. The

bread-and-butter for the next point is just as important, and then he

throws in an ridiculous double four. Tennis over the years has been full

of players with wild, natural talent, who maybe haven't been able

to harness that developed the other skills required to grow as a top-10

player. I wonder if he will look like someone like Stanislas Wawrinka

who this year has become the complete package and has now won a

Grand Slam? Fognini is not that far behind talent wise. Certainly not

talent wise, it is just mentally wise.

He has gone wide. I think it was Michael Jordan who once said that

talent is the most overrated thing you can have a sportsman, there is

so much more that you require. You need discipline, hard work, that

mental fortitude in the right moments. That will get you so far,

talent, but you cannot rely on it. You have to get the other aspects of

love. -- other aspects as well. Which is what please Fognini with so

much potential. The umpire is coming down to have a chat with Fabiola.

Maybe the Italian captain has said, come on, mate, I need someone else

to soak all this stuff up! Goodness me, she is going to burn itself out

with all this chapter. Let's go to Russell courtside, what can you tell

us? Our conditions? I caught your Perl conversation about -- the tail

end of your conversation about Fognini, we have been enjoying the

two-way banter between Fognini and the gentleman from Stirling

University, we met him, earlier, some of them are singing songs about

getting into Fognini's head and they are not gentlemanly but seem to be

accurate right now. It is a two-way process and it is clearly

distracting Fognini. We are used to seeing him behave like this on court

and I think no one should take this for granted. You can suddenly

flicked a switch and plate spectacular -- he can suddenly

flicked the switch and play spectacular lake or tennis.

Fognini, yes. So some of the British spectators are winding up the

player. You might see it is good work, Murray, we don't! I love the

fact that he is complaining about a brick in this crowd, that is causing

him problems, -- a British person, when the Italians are a master at

abusing you any way they can at the Davis Cup!

I think that Fognini just wants to have a complaint about something.

Running out of options, the court are in good nick, the line calls

have been decent, the opponent has been not been relativity net call,

so he has got to find something. -- the opponent has not been very lucky

with his net calls. This is starting now, this is

getting at. -- getting good. Murray, I think, was feeling a bit

left out in the chat department with Pascal Maria. When you were watching

the replay, he was having a few words. That is why there was brewing

and that is why the crowd got on his back after the missed first serve.

Suffice to say, they quite enjoyed the double-faulted.

That is ridiculous! How did he get that? He slid, like, 15 metres

there. This is just stunning. Look at the speed of him. And the depth

on that shot. You have to be kidding.

We are level now, 3-3. I thought at the beginning of the match that this

might be the toughest crowd that Murray has ever played in front of.

The first to -- two days, I was disappointed. This is what we are

talking about now. Even Murray now, you can see it is getting to him

now. He has got to stop this. Unfortunately, the more you

complain, the more they will do it. You have got to get the umpire to

give point penalties but unfortunately, you have just got to

suck it up. It is starting to sound like the football crowd. They are

all singing, chanting. This is what they do. If there are British band

dishing and out to Fognini, we cannot complain. This is Davis Cup.

The other thing is, we talk about the physicality, this is early days,

if they continue to have rallies like this, and covering this much

court and it gets into a fourth set, yesterday was a tough day for

Murray. Not just physically, but the mental side of winning two different

matches in a Grand Slam, it takes it out of you.

This set looks more and more important every point. If Murray can

win this... If you can quieten the crowd down,

but if he loses this first set, we are going to be in for a real

battle. The physicality required is a different one. Some people don't

understand this, Murray is extremely fit. But clay court fitness is

different, you use your groin, your hips with all the sliding. He has

not had time to go through the fit this book to get used to it. -- the

fitness block. Well, this is a run of 9.0 now for

Fabio Fognini. -- it is a run of nine points in a row. But he is also

capable of losing nine points in a row. That is his unpredictability,

so Murray had to stay close. You have to soak it up and wait until it

turns, because it will turn. You have just got to be ready to take

advantage when it does. And keep close enough.

When he is on a run, he is dangerous.

He takes the lead for the first time in the match.

Talking about the difference of a clay court, and relatively slow clay

courts compared with a grass court, or an indoor hard court, for

example. That is where, to hit this amount of winners against someone

who defends as well as Andy Murray, we cannot overstate how investors

that is from Fognini. Absolutely. The shotmaking, the pace he gets on

the ball, but both ways, Murray hits winners as well. These two are

supreme athletes. To get the ball past them, it has got to be very

good. One big thing that Andy does, he is someone who tries to

anticipate where it is going to hit. He is going to rule out covering

parts of the court that are difficult to hit into but Fognini

can hit into parts of those courts. He cannot cover the whole court, but

if Fognini can hit into the 25th 20 does not cover, it is a difficult

task. It is probably the most difficult match the umpire has had

to officiate by the way. He is going to have to take some decisions that

the crowds are not going to like with warnings and penalties. That is

not easy either. It is easy to get intimidated by a crowd like this. At

least he has got the experience, Pascal Maria, one of the senior

officials on the tour. You do not get crowds like this in normal

tournaments. Maybe they anticipate it by appointing the umpires that

they did. It is something we can go into over the course of the rest of

this match. Andy Murray hasn't got too many really stand out victories

on clay in his career. He has done well. But you wonder how hard this

will be. Very good there from Fognini, not

letting Andy get into a position where he can attack. You've got a

little bit impatient and went for that backhand.

He needs a couple of big serves here.

It is on the line, on the line so many times. This is tense, this, it

really is. I tell you what, that was a

beautiful volley. He did well to dig himself out of that point, he was in

big trouble in a couple of occasions and that Molly, that was special. --

the volley. This is a wonderful dipping shot from Fognini. The

volley right on the baseline, he had to dig this one out, look at that.

It was a shoelace volley. I can't believe he went to that. Two

immense points in a row that Murray has just played.

The shotmaking here is just exceptional. Murray hit another

couple of lines in that rally. He just hung in there. This one here

slightly short. But again, you just don't expect someone to get round

that quick and hit the off forehand that well. That was like Rafael

Nadal. It would be on the other side with him, but.

The break is Italy's. And Fognini has won the last four games. Andy

has not got a lot of those big serves that you mentioned, those

cheap points he needed. That brings relief. When you are playing 20, 30

shot rallies, and you are sucking down at, it is hard to then get

that, big strong serve you need. It also makes me worried when you see

someone missing serves in the net, they are not growing up after the

ball, it is a sign of maybe the physicality, after these long

rallies, being a little bit winded. If you miss serve, if it goes out

rather than at the net, at least you are going after the ball. You think

this set is over but I'm not convinced that he is necessarily

going to hold this serve. A couple more of those kind of

returns could be pretty useful. That is what you called a lovely mishit.

Three more of those, very sorry, not really! Your match predictions have

been pretty spot on, Mr Lloyd. I get it right once every ten!

That is played so well, it really is.

It is amazing how the reverse at the beginning, even though the games

were tough then, Murray was on the baseline dictating play. And now he

is getting pushed back with the depth and the angles. The Italian is

throwing them out at him. UMPIRE: Out.

Great call. I think one of the things Andy

mentioned when he came back from that back injury on the clay it is

that twisting motion it requires from your body. When you're doing so

many shots, if you're a little bit weaker, it is harder to keep doing

that, shot after shot. First set Italy. 6-3 from three - one down.

What are run from Fabio Fognini. Five games in a row, just trying to

work out the points here in those games. I make it that only five

points for Undine and -- for Andy Murray. Mental arithmetic not the

strong point for me. Five points from 19. I'll tell you what, that is

some run from Fognini, and the Italians loved it. Whatever facts

and figures of that first set, Italy one, great Britain nil. This is

another example of how sport tears every sinew of your mind, and, boy,

have we got a lot to show you in the next few months.

A scorching summer of sport, right here on the BBC.

And the summer starts on the banks of the Thames later on this

afternoon with the boat race. Our coverage starts at 4:30pm. Back to

glorious sunshine in the southern half of Italy. But the sun is

shining on that man at the moment. John Lloyd, I wonder, this is when

the captain has a part to play. What does Leon Smith say to Andy Murray

at the moment? He will be saying, look, the fellow played out of his

mind there for a few games. He can have these spurts but he won't keep

this up so you've got to hang in there. Your first serve percentage,

you've got to get that up because it has dropped dramatically. Hang in

there mentally because you're the man. You have won two Grand Slams,

and this guy will go if you keep at him. Andy looked a bit negative at

the changeover, so Leon Smith has had to have done a lot of good work

here. He needs his first serve, that is for sure.

The first time that Murray has lost the first set in a Davis cup single

since 2007. Recovered that day at Wimbledon to beat Marin Cilic. Such

a strong singles record, both of these men have in this competition.

Very impressive how he can change the pace of the game. Rallying,

rallying, then, suddenly, it doesn't look like he is loading, then he

rips a great big shot. It is amazing, the pace he gets off that

swing. It is so short and it rockets off court.

He did superbly to dig it out. This is a key game, it really is. Fognini

has no intention of letting Murray back in.

Vital. Really vital. It seems a long time ago since he won his last game.

In the first set, he is a good player, Murray, on all surfaces. He

is world class on grass courts, but not on clay courts when you look at

his results. His best clay-court results? If you throw it out there,

it is hard to pull them down from the sky. He is a very good

clay-court player, at I think the problem that Andy has is the

sliding. These guys that are used to playing on clay courts, they are

used to sliding. Murray struggles. But I think he will do better on

clay. There is a lot in him left on clay. I wouldn't say he has mastered

the surface, but he can do better than he has done.

You remember the great Pete Sampras, he got to one clay-court semifinals

in all the years he dominated. That was it from him. Obviously, they are

totally different players, but sometimes a surface can get to you.

He has beaten Marin Cilic a few times. Del Potro in Rome. But that

was retirement. This would be his best victory if he

could come back to win. I think considering the circumstances, I

agree totally. Apart from the fact he is playing a world-class player,

but considering the circumstances, after playing two matches yesterday.

He came close to beating Novak Djokovic under the lights in Rome.

What a night that was three years ago, it went to set tie-break. It

was stunning match, I remember it well.

He played a semifinal or of Rafa Nadal in Monte Carlo, 2011 -- with

the Rafa Nadal. Murray was actually injured ahead of

that. He had a painkilling injection. It was only when the

effects of that started to wear off late in the match, that was the only

stage when Nadal pulled clear. That is Fognini again at his best!

Incredible. Let's not forget, Andy hasn't played a lot on clay. He

missed out on clay court last season. So it is almost two years

since he played consecutive matches on clay.

To then tried to fight against a guy who was just born and bred on the

staff... -- on the stuff. The point you made about the tailed clay-court

season, it is so relevant because he has come from the North American

hard courts. Pretty dramatic change in conditions.

Fognini is just making him work and work. Andy has chosen not to play

Monte Carlo because he says he needs time to prepare for the clay-court

season. So he needs to go out and do a lot of fitness training to propel

himself by doing things like slide board, lunges, side lunges, core

exercises. Just long on that occasion. Murray

is a relieved man because Fognini again was on a string of successive

points. And that was a chance. Yes, that is out. Murray was

blocking the view of the line judge and Pascal Maria was straight on it.

And he rarely gets a call wrong. The locals won't like it but that is a

very good call from the umpire. It is great to see the umpire getting

involved. Because now with the new Hawk-eye, a lot of umpires will sit

quiet, even if they are not sure, because the player will use the

Hawk-eye. So, maybe, they are a little lazy sometimes.

Murray might have got the better of the early exchanges this match. But

make no mistake. This is going to be very tough to win this one. Fognini

wants to keep the tie alive for Italy. The way he is playing, he has

got every chance of doing so. Murray is very much pushing for the

lines, you consent it. He knows he has to. He doesn't want to be stuck

out here grinding all day. Big hold. Very big. He's got to take

his chances because he is not going to be able to outlast in a rally for

me Fognini because he is so good at hitting the balls high and heavy,

then changing direction and hitting the drop shot. Andy hasn't been

getting some any free points on the serve, Fognini is standing so far

back to return it. So, Andy has to try to step in. Can he keep that

up? That is the key. Davis cup quarterfinal in Naples. Friday was

good, Saturday was even better. And today is shaping up... Well,

possibly, are we shaping up for a fifth and deciding rubber? The

British fans at urging Andy on. But Fognini is playing sparkling stuff,

the sort of tennis that has taken him to the verge of the world's top

ten. We are talking about the physical preparation and the

physical changes with Dominic Inglot, top 20 doubles player in the

world, just talk about the effort required to force the ball through

on the clay as opposed to on grass or hard court. That is putting extra

effort into your clip rotation. It depends on how you hit the ball.

Fognini uses a lot of wrist and arm. That is how he creates the top

spin, working from the arm. On grass, he's never going to be that

good whereas Andy creates a lot of power from his hips and waist. And

where he needs that extra power, that extra work, unfortunately, it

is going to get tired faster than your arm. As a result, he's much

better on the hard courts because he can generate from his waist and

hips. Well, the cheekiness and precision.

How about that? I am just thinking about how Andy

could change up his game here to try to change the momentum. I think back

to the French open that Tim Henman played. One of the tactics he used

was a short slice to bring in his opponent. What a bounce that was.

That must have been a crater! I'd love to see that again.

It was 2004. Henman, he was well up in his semifinal. Specifically, you

remember the slice? That is what Andy does phenomenally, great at the

passing shot. Interesting remembering that year.

We had the Goran Ivanisevic final in 2001 when Pete Sampras was around.

Lleyton Hewitt, then Federer. It was ironic, I thought he was going to

win them because he should've won that semifinals. I can't remember

who won the finals. It was a one-hit wonder, anyway. He

won Wimbledon. He had a good backhand.

Two semifinals for Tim Henman that year, another petition favourite,

Elena Baltacha, retired, and now with problems of the court to deal

with and the supporters have a message for her that we certainly

echo. All the best. A very successful and positive recovery for

your health issues. The tennis club of Napoli, right on the bay, what a

setting. Fognini, a lot more level-headed. He

was riled by that British supporter. And, really, the tide turned from

that moment. Once he had lost his rag and had a go at everybody, he

has come into form. Maybe that is what he needs, he needs to lose a

little bit of... Reasonable shot, that was Tim

Henman's best shot. He made that look very easy.

That is good from Murray, reminiscent of the early stages,

stepping into the court, on the return.

He took the ball so early, then he hit a great shot. It shows that it

is still not good enough. Three deep returns in a row for Andy

Murray. Now he has got break point. He has worked so hard to get to this

position, soaked up so much pressure.

He needs all the energy he can get right now. He mustn't waste too much

shouting. That was actually a better second

serve though. Got a bit more pace on it, so Murray, a little bit. He has

not even got a first serve in for a while. Obviously this is a good

opportunity for Murray in this game. A lot of second serves to have a go

at. That is hard, John, isn't it, when

you are behind on the scoreboard. And short on a little bit of

confidence to hand the ambition to go for a shot like that inside the

service box. He took that on the volley, Fognini,

didn't he? Strain shot, he actually hit it pretty well. -- eight strange

shots. Another key game in the context of the time.

I think Murray was still recovering from the previous point there.

Getting some air into his lungs. When you're playing this type of

match, the 22nd rule goes very quickly!

His drop shots have been exquisite today, Fognini. Choosing the right

moment to play the shot is the first thing. Working out whether you want

to go down the line or a crosscourt is the next. Anticipating, perhaps,

what shop might come back at you. Should your opponent get there. That

is number three. Then you have got to execute it.

And still, they are going with serve. Couple of really big games in

this set for both men on serve. Murray withstanding the pressure in

Game three and Fognini in Game six. There it is again. That is just

class. You can drop shots so well on either side. The backhand drop shot

is phenomenal but he has it on the forehand as well. A great disguise,

he looks like he is going to whack one of his big forehands, but as Don

would say, he has got such a short backswing, we have no idea he is

going to hit a drop shot. He abbreviate it and there it is.

That is huge hitting. That is a Grand Slam winner, the confidence to

take on those shots at 0-30. But he knows it is going to take

tennis like that to salvage this match.

That is what he needs to do, he needs to step in and say, I do not

want any part of this, the rally heavy and hard, I want to take it

early and take it to him. Those three points, when you sing

them together and examine the shots that Murray has played, it is the

best sequence in the contest so far. He is stepping in, changing it up,

hitting hard and fast and flat and it is working. He did that at the

beginning of the first set for a few games but could not keep it up.

Trying to stay away from the forehand a lot more, isn't he? Look

how far back Fognini was standing on that return. Andy is not getting any

of those three points on the serve any more, he is kicking them in and

hoping they will take the next ball early.

This is tough. Every point, every game is tough. It is best of five

sets, remember, there is a lot of tennis to be played. Just a little

note for you, in a few minutes, we are going to be switching channels.

So get prepared with the remote control, it will be over there, down

the back of the sofa! In about three minutes, we will be over on BBC One.

That is clay-court tennis, it is tough. Only had a set and a half and

it feels like they have been out there watching for four hours. I do

not mean that in a negative way, it is amazing tennis but it seems so

long already and they have barely started the match. Assessed and a

half, that is all it has been. -- eight set and a half. The

physicality every rally, so much movement. The toughest surface on

the world to move on. It has gone long, it has gone long.

And Fognini now leads by a set and a break. And Murray tried so hard to

pierce the defences in the forehand corner but could not do it.

STUDIO: those of you who are switching on to watch a relaxing

Davis Cup tie, sorry about that! Sorry