Andy Murray of Great Britain (7th L)  celebrates his victory with teammates after his reverse singles match against Bernard Tomic of Australia in the Davis Cup semi-final in Glasgow yesterday. (AFP)

AFP/Glasgow

Great Britain and Belgium secured shock places in November’s Davis Cup final yesterday.  Britain made their first final since 1978 with victory over Australia in Glasgow while Belgium reached their first title match since 1904 with a tense 3-2 win over Argentina in Brussels.
Belgium will host the final from November 27-29.
World number three Murray cruised to a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 win over Bernard Tomic to give his team a 3-1 winning lead over Australia in their semi-final in Glasgow despite playing three days in succession.
The 28-year-old’s 25th win from 27 Davis Cup singles matches secured a first victory over old rivals Australia since 1978. It puts nine-times winners Britain on the verge of an historic first title triumph since 1936 when Fred Perry and Bunny Austin sealed a 3-2 victory over Australia at Wimbledon.
“Winning for your country and your team-mates means a lot. The crowd were unbelievable from the first ball to the last,” Murray told the BBC.
“I didn’t feel great the whole weekend to be honest, I’ve been struggling with my back, but I just tried to disguise it.”
Great Britain captain Leon Smith hailed the impact of former Wimbledon and US Open champion Murray.
“He’s quite good isn’t he? It’s pretty amazing watching Andy’s work over the whole weekend, he fights so hard and he’s got the quality. He executed it perfectly today.”
It is a remarkable turnaround for a British team that have risen from being on the verge of relegation to Europe/Africa Group III, the lowest level of the competition, in 2010, to being World Group finalists in 2015.
Murray, who won both singles matches and the doubles with brother Jamie, is now looking to become only the fourth player ever to win the Davis Cup, Olympic gold and multiple Grand Slams.
In Brussels, world number 15 David Goffin kept Belgium afloat against Argentina with a routine 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Diego Schwartzman to level their semi-final at 2-2.
In the second singles Steve Darcis of Belgium defeated Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-4 2-6 7-5 7-6(3).                               .
In the play-offs, where the winners will feature in the elite World Group in 2016, Roger Federer defeated Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 as Switzerland wrapped up victory over the Netherlands in Geneva.
But Federer, 34, who led Switzerland to a first Davis Cup title in 2014, then hinted that Sunday may have been his last appearance in the tournament.
“My idea was never to win it twice, the idea was always to win it once and we did that in front of a record crowd, which was a great moment for us all,” Federer told www.daviscup.com.
“I see this tie in isolation. Next year is an Olympic year. The summer will be very long and packed with highlights. It’s all a question of priorities. I can’t play everything and of course if I do play Davis Cup other things have to drop out.”
In Tashkent, Jack Sock defeated Denis Istomin 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to give 32-time champions United States victory over Uzbekistan.
Italy also preserved their World Group status when world number 28 Fabio Fognini defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to secure victory against Russia in Irkutsk.
In Gydnia, Poland clinched a World Group spot for the first time when Michal Przysiezny defeated Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos in the deciding fifth rubber, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.