Leon Smith was all praise for his superstar Andy Murray

The British skipper Leon Smith was all praise for his superstar Andy Murray who stepped up to the plate in the immensely vital tie versus France and carried the team to the Davis Cup Round of 4.

Murray’s victory over Giles Simon in the reverse singles yesterday ensured Great Britain got over the line and earned the right to take on Australia for booking a berth in the title round.

It was quite hard to see Murray winning against Simon when he had lost the opening set and then, had got broken in the second set too, but, the Scot put on great fight from there.

Not only did he manage to turn around that second set and win it in tie breaker, he, thereafter, thrashed Simon in the next two sets to finish the game off.

Murray was very tired having already played a singles and a doubles game prior to this Simon meeting and that tiredness was visible in his game.

For the initial one hour or so, he was nowhere near Simon, but, like a true fighter, he pushed himself to the limits when his body was not responding.

And, that’s why, Smith, who is a Scot himself, was so impressed.

Talking to the press post the conclusion of the tie, the 39-year old said, “Andy is someone whom you have got to have respect for. He does not get rattled by any match situation. You see how much he was behind today, but, he just knows one thing and that is to fight hard.”

This is after more than three decades that Great Britain has got into the semis in the Davis Cup.

The last time that they had covered this much distance in the showpiece tournament was in 1981.