Murray defeated Swiss debutant Leandro Riedi 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-4 to help Britain reach the eight-team elimination stage in November.

Cameron Norrie may clinch the title by defeating Stan Wawrinka later on Friday.

If Norrie loses, Dan Evans and Neal Skupski can win the decisive doubles for the second time in a row.

Even if Britain defeats Switzerland in the best-of-three tie, they will not be able to qualify until Sunday’s final match against France.

The group stage tournament is being hosted at Manchester’s AO Arena and features four nations: the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Switzerland.

They will all play each other once in a round-robin style, with the top two countries advancing to the knockout stage – known as the ‘Final Eight’ – in Malaga in November.

“It’s incredible to get through that one – it could have easily gone the other way,” Murray, who helped Britain win the Davis Cup in 2015, said.

“It was ridiculous the shots he was pulling off, some amazing returning.”

Britain won the first match against Australia on Wednesday when debutant Jack Draper and Dan Evans, who were picked ahead of Murray and Norrie based on their current form, won their singles matches.

On Friday, British captain Leon Smith made an interesting decision to go with Murray and Norrie against the Swiss, utilizing the entire skilled roster.

The bulk of the home crowd, which was watching Murray play in Manchester for the first time since 2004, undoubtedly did not anticipate Murray to be pushed so hard by Riedi, who is only 21 years old.

But, as they’ve seen so many times before, Murray drew on all of his huge physical and mental reserves to secure the victory.