It was a weekend when Andy Murray was full to bursting with emotion, but he struck a note of pragmatism after leading Great Britain to Davis Cup victory. The din of what is the closest he can get to a home-town crowd was still ringing in his ears as he considered the implications of a 3-2 victory over America - one that has again put Leon Smith’s squad into the last eight of the sport’s premier team competition. Wimbledon’s host nation may not be able to raise a quorum when it comes to volume of players in the world’s top 100, but where there is Murray, there is hope. Andy Murray celebrates as his win over John Isner leads Great Britain into the Davis Cup's last eight . Murray celebrates during his straight sets win over Isner that clinched the Brits a quarter-final place . Murray produced the right results in points at key moments to overcome the fancied American . He showed that again as he held off a ferocious challenge from 6ft 10in John Isner to win 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 and push Britain into a July quarter-final against France. Yet he was cautious about whether that could actually lead to GB winning the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936. ‘To win the event is an extremely difficult thing to do,’ he said. ‘Even with someone like Federer, such a great player, it’s taken him to have a top five in the world partner (Stan Wawrinka) to help him to do that. We’re playing at the limits of our level right now.’ If he was merely being realistic there was not, after all, a great deal of time for heady celebration. Such are the demands of the tour that he was flying back to London on Sunday night and then flying on Monday morning to Los Angeles for the season’s first Masters level event at Indian Wells. Accompanying him will be James Ward, without whom none of this weekend’s triumph would have been possible. Murray was the star but this was truly an Anglo-Scottish enterprise at a time when such things are under threat. James Ward turned the tie in Great Britain's favour with his own victory over Isner on Friday . Ward took the first two sets in the dead rubber against Donald Young but retired to protect his knee . Ward’s Friday night epic against Isner turned this match in the home side’s favour - just as he had 13 months ago in the corresponding first-round match against America, when he defeated Sam Querrey. The 28-year-old Londoner is one of those players who grows an extra three inches in the team environment, but it is expecting a lot of a player outside the world’s top 100 to keep the upsets coming. Ward even took the first set against Donald Young in the dead rubber after Murray’s victory on Sunday but then conceded the match to protect his sore knee. When asked about his side’s potential, Smith said: ‘We have still got a bit of work to do but we are getting closer. We can trouble most teams. You’ve seen the spirit we have.’ The victorious Great Britain team smile with clenched fists after their 3-2 win over the United States . The Brits gather on the court after their win which sets up a clash with France in the quarter-finals . This was another triumph for Smith. In an era when big-name ex-players are all the rage as coaches, he continues to land blows for the lower-profile professional. For the second consecutive time he has got the better of former world No 1 Jim Courier in the captain’s chair. Murray is not only among the planet’s best tennis players, he has also shown what a team man he is this weekend with his passionate support from the sidelines. If there is a worry, it is that it may all have sapped him. It helped that the 7,700 capacity crowd was intent on dragging him over the line. No wonder the debate over the next month will be whether the advantage of grass in the next round is outweighed by the passion of playing in Scotland on a hard court. Murray, embracing GB team captain Leon Smith, praised the 'effort and attitude of everyone in the team' Great Britain captain Smith celebrate as their talisman Murray wins a crucial point against World No 20 Isner . Murray said: ‘I knew that James was extremely tired and I knew it would be a very tough ask for him to come out and win that match (yesterday’s final singles) after me. There is pressure to help your team-mates out and I wanted to try and finish the tie there. ‘I was very emotional all weekend — it is quite draining. I was proud of the team, the way they performed and fought in this arena under so much pressure.’ Isner was desperate to make amends for Friday and had come out swinging in the first set against Murray, backing up his enormous serve with early strikes in rallies designed to prevent any long exchanges. He forced seven break points en route to the tiebreak including three set points at 5-4, which saw him taking huge cuts at Murray’s more vulnerable second serve. What it came down to was Murray’s greater sangfroid in the tiebreak, which Isner began with a double fault. That first set settled the nerves of Murray and the crowd and he broke for 4-2 in the second with an exquisite lob — no mean feat against a giraffe-like opponent. To Isner’s credit, he kept fighting. But the second tiebreak followed much the same pattern as the first and was sealed 7-4 with a swinging ace which met with a cacophony that nearly blew the roof off. It was the kind of supreme effort from Murray that is all too easily taken for granted. Big American Isner fell to Murray after James Ward come from two sets down to beat him in an epic tussle . Isner took responsibility for the loss saying 'This one's on me' after his loss to Ward . Isner, however, says there were ew players in the world who could have conquered Murray in Glasgow .
Andy Murray beat John Isner in straight sets to secure GB win over US . Murray's GB team-mate James Ward had before upset world No 20 Isner . The Scot said GB are playing at their limit having moved into the last eight . Great Britain will face France at home in the quarter-finals in July .