In a win-or-go-home tie against France, Great Britain came back from the brink of defeat to prevail 2-1 as Group B competition in the Davis Cup Finals wrapped up on Sunday evening in Manchester.
The two singles rubbers were split; Dan Evans (GB) defeated Arthur Fils (France) and Ugo Humbert (France) outlasted Cameron Norrie (GB), both in three sets. That set the stage for a dramatic doubles rubber that would decide the tie and determine which team would advance to Malaga while the other country would be eliminated from the 2023 Davis Cup.
Evans teamed up with Neal Skupski and for much of the way it looked like the home crowd would go home disappointed. The French duo of Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin took the opening set 6-1 and eventually earned four match points with Evans serving at 5-6, 0-40 in the third. Nonetheless, Evans managed to hold serve and the Brits fought off four match points in total before triumphing 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(6) after two hours and 48 minutes.
“The doubles was chaos,” Evans commented. “I just kept saying to Neal, ‘we’ve got a chance.’ We both kept going and we stuck together…. It was an amazing day; an amazing feeling–emotional more than anything. You want to be with these guys in the finals. You know what happens if you lose. It’s not ideal at home, as well. You feel that. It’s an immensely proud moment for me and the team.”
“I don’t know how we’ve won that match,” Skupski added. “Sheer fight.”
“It was bonkers,” captain Leon Smith concluded.
Great Britain joins Australian, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Serbia in the Davis Cup Finals knockout round, which takes place November 21-26 in Malaga. The bracket will be revealed on Tuesday.
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