Murrays double up to give Britain edge over Japan

Andy and Jamie Murray edged defending champions Great Britain closer to the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka and Yakutaka Uchiyama.

Just as in their title triumph over Belgium in November in what was Britain's first Davis Cup triumph in 79 years, the brothers played a starring role.

The win gave the hosts a 2-1 lead and world number two Andy Murray can seal the tie on Sunday when he faces Japan's top player Kei Nishikori, ranked number six, in the first of the reverse singles.

A quarter-final against either Serbia or Kazakhstan in July awaits the winners.

Nishikori is the highest-ranked player Murray has ever played in Davis Cup, but he has won five of their previous six matches.

"I played well against him last year. I played him a couple of times. He's ranked six in the world, so he's one of the best," said Murray.

"It's obviously going to be extremely tough, but I'm playing well and hopefully I can play a good one tomorrow and try and seal the win. But if not Dan is capable of winning his match as well."