Dunblane 3, Australia 2. It may not be the result that flashed up on the screens at The Emirates Arena, but it was the reality behind a triumph that was roundly celebrated throughout the land yesterday.

The wee town just outside Stirling, with a population of 7,911, was once again the tennis capital of the world as its two most famous sons shone brightly down the road in Glasgow to guide Great Britain into its first Davis Cup final since 1978.

Andy and Jamie Murray combined on Saturday in the doubles to see off Sam Groth and the retiring Lleyton Hewitt in a five-set match that will go down as one of the most epic contests seen in the competition. But, for all the drama and excitement generated by that key win, it was the influence and raw talent of the younger of the two that was rightly the most spoken about topic on the lips of the 9,000 who bounced their way out into the Glasgow drizzle.

Having been troubled with a back problem as well as a dodgy stomach earlier in the week, Murray failed to drop a set against Thanasi Kokkinakis on Friday during a contest that lasted less than two hours.

It was a feat he repeated yesterday with the most minimum of fuss. Up against a plucky Bernard Tomic who knew he must win to keep alive his country's hopes, the man with the golden post box dispatched the 22-year-old 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 46 minutes - a minute less than he stamped his way beyond Kokkinakis two days earlier.

"I’d say I probably thought about it more before the match than I did when I was on the court," said Murray of the prospect of making history in Glasgow.

"Once I was out there, I was just trying to play each point and fight as hard as I could on his service games, trying to get as many balls back in play as I could.

"I made it difficult for him there and I was serving well and I don’t think he was reading the serve too well either and I was just trying to concentrate on hitting the right spot on the serve and that was it, I wasn’t really thinking about history or anything like that, I was just concentrating on the points."

You could tell. There was no sign of any fatigue creeping into Murray's play, a characteristic that would have been forgivable given he had been on court for four hours just 24 hours earlier with his brother Jamie.

Instead he seemed to improve with every passing game, and produced some of his best tennis as the match progressed. The key moment came in the third game of the second set when an outrageous lob brought the arena to its feet and left his opponent standing idle, hands on hips, staring back at the man pumping his fist on the other side of the net.

From there on in the Australian's resistance and morale crumbled radically and Murray took full advantage.

It was an effort acknowledged by Leon Smith. The captain sat just yards away on the side of the court all weekend offering words of encouragement, help and support. But even he acknowledged that there was little anyone could say or do to influence the British No.1.

He said: "His commitment to the team has just been absolutely incredible.

"He will play it down because he’s modest. But everyone watches in nothing other than the most amount of respect you can have for someone.

"You watch how he goes about his business during the week. He’s been quite open there saying how his back felt.

"It’s incredible that he was able to go out and play all three days, it really is.

"We owe Andy a lot, given what he brings to the team."