Andy and Jamie Murray put Great Britain within touching distance of an historic Davis Cup semi-final berth as the brothers beat France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut to move 2-1 ahead in the last eight clash on Saturday.
World number three Andy and his older brother Jamie secured a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 victory in the doubles rubber that left Britain needing one win from Sunday's two remaining singles matches to reach the semi-finals for the first time in 34 years.
Andy can secure a last-four showdown against Australia or Kazakhstan in September if he defeats scheduled opponent Gilles Simon in the first of those singles ties at Queen's Club in west London on Sunday.
If he loses, British world number 89 James Ward is due to face world number 12 Tsonga in what would be the decisive second singles.
Nine-time winners France finished as runners-up to Switzerland last year, but now they are teetering on the brink of a first defeat against old rivals Britain since 1978.
With the tie on a knife-edge after Friday's singles, both teams made late changes to their doubles line-ups.
Despite admitting his body is feeling the strain of a gruelling spell that saw him reach the Wimbledon and French Open semi-finals, Andy agreed to be inserted alongside Jamie instead of Dominic Inglot.
French captain Arnaud Clement also made a switch, with Tsonga selected ahead of Richard Gasquet, who is still less than 100 percent after his run to the last four at Wimbledon.
It was an especially bold move by British captain Leon Smith as Andy Murray had played only six doubles matches this year, the most recent during Queen's last month alongside Inglot, while his last Davis Cup doubles appearance, with Colin Fleming, ended in a defeat against Italy last year.
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