Andy Murray says he did not deserve to beat the young Dutch outsider Tallon Griekspoor in his first Davis Cup match in three years but Great Britain were grateful yet again for his extraordinary resilience. He was exhausted and relieved after seeing 23 aces flash by in nearly three hours of struggle before winning 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the opening match against the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon.

In the second, Dan Evans was two points from beating Robin Haase before losing in three excellent sets but Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski beat Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 7-6 (6) in a touch over two hours to give the team victory before their second rubber on Thursday against Kazakhstan.

In his first Davis Cup match in three years Britain were grateful yet again for Andy Murray’s extraordinary resilience. He was exhausted and relieved after seeing 23 aces flash by in nearly three hours of struggle before winning 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the opening match against the Netherlands.

In the second singles match, Evans was two points from beating Robin Haase before losing in three excellent sets but Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski beat Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 7-6 (6) in a touch over two hours to give the team victory before their second rubber on Thursday against Kazakhstan.

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“I don’t think I deserved to win. I fought really hard at the end but he dictated a lot of the match. He was going for huge second serves. I fought hard. It was tough,” said Andy Murray, who has been left out of the team for the decisive clash with Kazakhstan. The former world No 1 needed close to three hours to battle past Griekspoor and admitted he is not in the best shape.

Kyle Edmund comes into the side as the number two singles player, with Evans as number one. Victory at the Caja Mágica would send Britain through to the quarter-finals but defeat risks an early exit with Kazakhstan also having beaten the Dutch. Only the group winners and the two second placed sides with the best records from the six groups progress to the last eight.

“We knew he hurt his ankle four weeks ago. An hour before the match [Griekspoor decided to play]. I didn’t know much about him. He’s had some good wins this year. He took some chances on his serve, put me on the back foot,” said Murray.

Griekspoor, who names Murray as his childhood hero and spends most of his time on the Challenger tour, where he has had only occasional success.

“That was our bad,” Murray said. “It’s not like we hadn’t looked into his matches and stats. It was just in terms of watching him play. I’m sure we’ll maybe do a little bit better with that as the tournament progresses.”

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Murray, who put on 5kg while resting after winning in Antwerp last month, said: “I wasn’t feeling in the best shape coming in and it showed a little bit in the match.

“But it is about finding a way to win and I did that today. I’m proud of myself because it would have been easy to have lost that.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Great Britain’s Jamie Murray (right) and Neal Skupski on their way to victory over Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer. Photograph: Sergio Pérez/Reuters

He was 1-4 down in the third set and 1-4 down in the tie-break yet managed to induce one final, tired shot from the world No 179, whose aggression and heavy serving wrong-footed Murray.

Evans served for the match in the second set but lost focus at the wrong moment against the determined Haase, who recovered to win 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Evans got the nod for the No 1 spot ahead of Kyle Edmund and lived up to the billing with outstanding shot-making in the first set. He looked in total control when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second but Haase dug deep – and then it got a little ugly.

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The Dutchman, not one of the game’s shrinking violets, was agitated at 5-5 and serving, firstly when his challenge against a brilliant Evans passing shot failed, then when the Briton appeared to stop on the shot for a ball that edged long, handing him break point.

Evans got back in the mood to force the tie-break and went 3-1 up with some inspired variety, but Haase matched him for brilliance in several exhilarating rallies. Haase hit long on the first of two set points but made sure of the second to take the match into a deciding set.

Having been so close to victory Evans lost his way then got involved in a mighty dogfight, saving two match points and nearly stumbling into the net as he chased down the second one. But Haase sealed it with a huge backhand. He said: “Dan was playing unbelievable until he served for the match, and even then he did nothing wrong. I just connected with a couple of shots. The key is always to believe. If you don’t believe, nothing will happen.”

Controversy lingered over Canada’s decision the previous evening to forfeit the doubles after securing their tie against the United States. The Americans, awarded the match 6-0, 6-0, could yet go through as a high-scoring loser, which Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic criticised as unfair.

The ITF said in a statement: “USA was given a walkover by Canada in the doubles match of their Davis Cup tie on Tuesday after three Canadian players were passed unfit to play by the independent doctor. According to the Davis Cup regulations, USA receives one match win and a 6-0, 6-0 scoreline in terms of sets and games won.”