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Neal Skupski and Dan Evans win pulsating Davis Cup decider as Great Britain head to Malaga
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Published 17/09/2023 at 17:20 GMT+1
Dan Evans drew first blood for Great Britain in their Davis Cup tie against France with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over Arthur Fils. However, Cameron Norrie could not follow that up and lost 7-6(5) 3-6 7-5 to Ugo Humbert. It left the pressure on Neal Skupski and Evans in the doubles, but they delivered in some style after somehow managing to save four match points and book their place in the last eight.
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Video credit: SNTV
Great Britain claimed an incredible Davis Cup win over France in front of a record crowd of 13,000 at the Manchester Arena, as Dan Evans and Neal Skupski overcame Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 1-6 7-6(4) 7-6(6).
It capped off an incredible day of tennis after Evans won his singles match against Arthur Fils, before Cameron Norrie succumbed to Ugo Humbert.
The French began in dominant fashion after taking a mere 34 minutes to win the first set, breaking the Evans and Skupski twice to show a real statement of intent.
Roger-Vasselin would hold to love and wrapped things up with an ace, leaving those inside in the Manchester Arena thinking that an early night might be in sight.
But the response was unbelievable, in a breathtaking second set that went all the way to a tie-break after all 12 service games were held without a single break point.
A stunning forehand winner from Skupski gave Great Britain three set points in the tie-break, and despite Roger-Vasselin saving one of those, Leon Smith's team levelled up the scores to take set two.
What followed was simply remarkable, as Skupski and Evans saved four match points to take the match into a decisive tie-break. Evans amazingly saved three of those in the 10th game to level it up at 5-5.
After a French hold, the fourth match point went begging in the 12th game ahead of the tie-break.
There were five more breaks of serve, but it was Skupski and Evans who prevailed on their second match point to seal a place at the quarter-finals in Malaga.
Speaking after the match to BBC Sport, Skupski said: "I don't know how we won the match, it was sheer fight. It was an unbelievable performance in the singles by Evo to come back after losing the first set and then come out to play the doubles with me.
"It's an incredible effort by him, and he did it. First set it wasn't looking too good and I was thinking I might not get picked again. But we regrouped, took a toilet break and we fought as hard as possible, Evo saving three match points in the third set. The rest is history and we're off to Malaga."
Norrie beaten by Humbert
Earlier in the day, Norrie was beaten 7-6(5) 3-6 7-5 by Ugo Humbert to leave Great Britain's Davis Cup decider against France on a knife-edge.
Dan Evans’ win over Arthur Fils earlier on Sunday had moved Team GB 1-0 ahead, but victory for Humbert left the pressure on Evans and Skupski to deliver in the doubles, and book a place in the quarter-finals.
Humbert won the first set after showing superb composure on his serve, not giving Norrie a sniff to hold all of his service games before the tie-break.
The 25-year-old drew first blood in the opening game, before Norrie hit back after the Frenchman hit a forehand long to level the score.
Humbert was looking very comfortable and restored his lead after making a correct call to challenge an ace from Norrie's serve, but the Brit responded to move level again.
The British No. 1 was struggling to hurt the Frenchman, with Norrie missing a simple forehand shot before Humbert prevailed to go 3-2 ahead without really breaking sweat on his serve.
Neither player was giving an inch as Norrie claimed a love hold before testing Humbert, who started to show a few chinks on his serve before ultimately taking a hold to 30.
The Brit was being made to work incredibly hard on his serve in this intriguing contest between two left-handers after another hold of his own, but Humbert remained resolute to take this game into a tie-break.
The first break point of this match came in the 12th game with Norrie leading 6-5, but Humbert failed to capitalise on this rare opportunity and win the set after his backhand hit the net.
After showing immense grit and determination to force the tie-break, Humbert would strike first to move one set to the good on his fifth set point, as Norrie lost his radar with a backhand.
Just like Evans earlier in the day, Norrie’s response was admirable. After a hold to 15, he broke the Frenchman for the first time on his second break point to double his lead after coming out on top in a lengthy baseline rally.
After waiting one hour and 20 minutes to finally get a break of serve, Norrie extended that advantage further when Humbert failed to land a backhand return.
The world No. 36 recovered with a hold to love, but Norrie reasserted his dominance to increase the lead after digging out a brilliant forehand after Humbert took the game to deuce.
Humbert still looked incredibly impressive on his service game with another hold to love, before Norrie swatted away two break points to regain a three-game advantage.
Humbert forced Norrie to serve out for the set with a hold, which was anything but straightforward for the Brit. He would eventually force the Frenchman into an error on his fourth set point.
The third set was reminiscent of the first, with Norrie holding off another break point with the score at 1-1. The next two games passed by without a further break-point opportunity, before Norrie squandered a chance on Humbert's serve as the Frenchman moved 3-2 ahead.
After a Norrie hold, he missed several chances in the seventh game, as a couple of unforced errors at 30-15 ensured Humbert steered away the Brit's advances.
The ebb and flow of his incredibly tight contest continued, with the next four games all going to serve, leaving Norrie with a must-win game to send this set into a tie-break.
But in the end, it was not to be enough, as a Norrie double fault gave the match to Humbert to leave Great Britain and France tied after two matches.
Evans makes fine start for GB
Evans was first up and he put Great Britain on the right track with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over Arthur Fils.
It was a superb win for the world no. 33, who recovered about losing the first set and being 3-1 and a break down in the second to claim a memorable victory.
France needed this victory in the last tie of Finals Group B to ensure progress to the Final 8 and that put pressure on the 19-year-old to deliver against a far more experienced opponent in his first ever Davis Cup tie.
But Fils has been tipped for big things in part due to his ability to handle pressure, and he ripped off a big ace to start the match, adding two more in his first two service games as he held twice. Evans held his own serves but had to hold off a break point in his second to square the match at 2-2.
Fils intensified, breezing through his next game to love but Evans hit back with a hold of his own but Fils was gradually getting on top.
Another Fils hold followed, before the crucial game.
Evans, struggling with his first serve, was handing opportunities to Fils and the young Frenchman finally took one in the eighth game of the set as he broke the Brit's serve to go 5-3 up.
Fils served out the set to love after just 39 minutes on the court.
Evans was struggling to impose himself on Fils, and began the second set in similar difficulty as Fils broke his serve in the opening game. The winner required Hawkeye to confirm that it had in fact nicked the line. The Frenchman then held to love to move into a commanding position.
The home crowd was trying to rally their man, but Evans was looking decidedly out of sorts.
The Brit held his next service game to stop a five-game Fils run, but the Frenchman returned with another love hold.
Evans was showing his frustration, throwing his racquet to the ground after a Fils winner, but responded with a love hold of his own to cut the deficit to one.
The following game saw Evans rise again, breaking Fils' serve for the first time in the match to level the set at 3-3 and inspiring a great cheer from the Manchester crowd.
Evans was on a roll and kept things going with another love hold, taking the lead in the set.
Fils tried to push back in his next game, but smashed a free hit into the net before double faulting as Evans broke him again to make it four consecutive games won.
Evans served out the set to love once again, the third straight love hold, levelling the match at one set apiece.
Fils had led the set 3-1 after the early break, but Evans roared back as the young Frenchman appeared to wilt.
The third set began in the same vein as Evans broke Fils' serve once more before yet again holding to love.
Evans had won seven straight games and 22 of the last 24 points. Fils was reeling and desperately in need of a foothold in the match. Evans made it to break point again in the next game, but Fils saved it with a powerful forehand smash, before serving out the game.
The Frenchman had halted Evans' march towards victory, but the Brit responded with a quick hold and raced into a 15-40 lead in Fils' next service game. The Frenchman was staring down the barrel of trailing 4-1 but rallied to hold again.
Evans would then claim a hold to love and move within two games of victory, before the Frenchman held on his serve to keep the contest alive.
Fils' long forehand from the baseline as Evans moved within one game of glory, but the teenager fought back yet again that culminate with a wonderful ace down the middle.
A final tenth and pulsating game eventually ended with Evans successfully serving for the match after prevailing on his second set point.
Speaking after the match, he told BBC Sport: "It was a hard match. I know with the Davis Cup, it's never simple. It's an amazing crowd, there's so many of you here. You got me through playing a set and a break down. It's everything to me."
"It's massive [having a record crowd of 13,000 people present]. Next match, they're one nil down. If you can be loud nice and early then that would help. Thank you to you all for coming, it's amazing."
When speaking about the prospect of playing someone more than a decade younger than him, he added: "They change their team early. It shows I can still play a bit and I've got a little longer against the younger ones."
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