Andy Murray leads Great Britain into Davis Cup quarters

Andy Murray has defeated Kei Nishikori in a five-set battle in Birmingham to seal Great Britain's progression to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup.

© Getty Images

The champions entered the match 2-1 up over Japan in the five-match contest but sealed progression after a marathon, five-hour encounter between the world number two and the world number six.

The Scot appeared to have the momentum going into the third set 2-0 up, but Nishikori refused to accept defeat, winning the next two sets to take the match into a decider.

With the five-hour mark approaching on the clock, Murray's resolve eventually told and he broke three consecutive times to seal a 7-5 7-6(6) 3-6 4-6 6-3 victory.

Great Britain will now go on to face either Kazakhstan at home or Novak Djokovic's Serbia away in the quarter-finals in July.