PARIS — Exhausted Andy Murray set up a potentially epic Davis Cup semifinal against Lleyton Hewitt's Australia Sunday when he spearheaded Great Britain's 3-1 quarterfinal win over France. World No. 3 Murray clinched his country's first semifinal berth for 34 years with a 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-0 win over Gilles Simon, sealing the tie 3-1 after playing three days in succession at Queen's Club in London. The 28-year-old's 23rd win from 25 Davis Cup singles matches secured a first victory over old rivals France since 1978 and took Britain back to the last four for the first time since 1981. Murray, who won both singles matches and the doubles with brother Jamie, said: "It feels unbelievable to get through. I used up my last ounces of energy. "It wasn't looking good in the second set. I was making too many mistakes but I didn't care how I played. I just wanted to win. "The whole weekend has been fantastic. This team has done amazing things. We are punching above our weight." Britain hasn't won the Davis Cup since 1936 and their last final appearance came in 1978. It will host Australia in the last four in September while Belgium and Argentina meet in the other semifinal. Australia was also the opposition when Britain last won a semifinal in 1978. Lleyton Hewitt, 34, and playing in his record 40th Cup tie, sealed Australia's 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan in Darwin with a gritty 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-3 win in the fifth rubber over Aleksandr Nedovyesov. It was the first time in 76 years that 28-time champions Australia had clawed back from 0-2 down to win a Davis Cup tie. "I love the back-against-the-wall situation and that's what we had after day one," Hewitt said amid high emotion. "We rallied together and found a way to win. "We didn't panic when we were 2-0 down. We're united for the one goal. It's been a lot of fun." While it was Hewitt, Australia's most successful player in the Davis Cup, who won the final live rubber for his 42nd singles triumph in the teams competition, it was Sam Groth who kept the tie alive for his country with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) win over Mikhail Kukushkin. The big-serving Groth thundered down 29 aces to just get over the line against the never-say-die Kukushkin in just under three hours on the grass-court surface. The host nation looked on the brink of being dumped from the competition when they trailed 0-2 after Friday's singles following defeats by youngsters Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios. Hewitt and Groth kept the Australians in the tie with a straight sets doubles win over Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov Saturday, setting up a tense final day. September's other semifinal will see Belgium hosts Argentina after both sides sealed their last-four spots Saturday with 3-0 wins over Canada and Serbia respectively. India bounces back India claimed both reverse singles to snatch a dramatic 3-2 victory over New Zealand in their Davis Cup tie Sunday. Victory in the Asia-Oceania second round tie qualifies India for the World Group play-offs in September. New Zealand went into the final day with a 2-1 lead only to find itself totally outplayed, with the two reverse singles settled in straight sets. Somdev Devvarman, who lost his first singles match Friday in five sets, made amends in his second outing when he saw off Marcus Daniell 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 sending the tie into a decisive fifth and final match. Yuki Bhambri then closed out the tie, taking just one hour 49 minutes to complete a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win over New Zealand hope Michael Venus who had earlier beaten Devvarman. Larsson wins first title Sweden's Johanna Larsson captured her first WTA title with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) win over defending champion Mona Barthel in the Swedish Open Sunday. Fourth-seeded Barthel, from Germany, had beaten Larsson in straight sets in all three of their previous meetings, but this time the seventh seed made the most of home crowd support to take victory. The tournament had boasted world No. 1 Serena Williams as its top seed but the American withdrew after her opening-round win with an elbow injury. Schmiedlova bags Bucharest Open Seventh-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat top-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-3 in searing heat on clay to win the Bucharest Open final Sunday. The 20-year-old Slovak took 2 hours and 7 minutes to overcome a tired Errani, who was recovering from a grueling semifinal in the hottest weekend of the year in Bucharest. Ram to face Karlovic American Rajeev Ram continued his love affair with Newport as he booked his place in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship final with a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over Australia's John-Patrick Smith in Rhode Island Saturday. Doubles specialist Ram, whose only ATP World Tour title came on the grass surface of Newport in 2009, shrugged off blustery conditions to seal the win in one hour 23 minutes. Ram, 31, will meet second seed Ivo Karlovic in Sunday's final, the towering Croat having served 14 aces as he overpowered fourth-seeded American Jack Sock 7-6(3) 6-4 in their semifinal. — Agencies
