GHENT, Belgium (AP) David Goffin came back from two sets down for the first time in his career to give Belgium a 1-0 lead over Britain in the Davis Cup final with a 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 win over Kyle Edmund on Friday.
Edmund came close to making his Davis Cup debut a memorable one after rolling through the first two sets against the much higher ranked Belgian. But Goffin stepped up his game as the 20-year-old Edmund started making mistakes.
Goffin is No. 16 in the world and had not lost a set in four previous Davis Cup matches this year in leading Belgium to the final. Edmund is ranked No. 100 and had not played in the Davis Cup until Friday.
Belgium is seeking its first Davis Cup title, while Britain has not won the coveted team competition in 79 years.
In the second singles Friday, Andy Murray will play Ruben Bemelmans.
The first game went to six deuces and Edmund saved two break points to win it in 12 minutes.
After that, he raced through the first two sets. He wasted a set point at 5-0 and dropped his serve when he was serving for the set at 5-1. But he finished the set with an ace on his next serve.
Edmund broke Goffin's serve three times to win the second set in 27 minutes as Goffin double-faulted on set point after doing the same at the end of fifth game.
Goffin began his comeback with a break of serve in the third game of the third set and broke again for a 4-1 lead. The two traded breaks in the next two games before Goffin clinched it on his second set point when Edmund sent a backhand long.
Goffin again broke for 2-1 and breezed through the fourth. Edmund's collapse was complete in the fifth. He saved one match point with a service winner but then hit a wild forehand wide.
Goffin was 4-3 in five-set matches going into the final but had never come back from a two-set deficit before.
The Belgians last reached the final in 1904, when they lost to Britain. Britain last played in the final in 1978.
Britain leads the head-to-head between the two nations 7-4, but Belgium won their only recent encounter 4-1, in 2012 in Glasgow.
