Great Britain secure 2-1 win over Finland to kick off Davis Cup Finals with US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper rested
Published 11/09/2024 at 20:28 GMT+1
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Great Britain opened their account in the Davis Cup Finals group stage with a 2-1 win over Finland, with Billy Harris and Dan Evans winning their respective singles bouts to give Great Britain victory at the AO Arena in Manchester. Evans teamed with Neal Skupski against Finland's duo of Harri Heliovaara and Otto Virtanen in the third match, which the Finnish pair won.
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Video credit: SNTV
Great Britain secured a 2-1 Davis Cup victory over Finland to begin their tournament, despite resting US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper for their opening bouts in Manchester.
Billy Harris made his tournament debut in the host's second match and secured the victory with a 6-4 7-6 (7) win over Otto Virtanen.
The 28-year-old Harris only earned his first ATP Tour win last year and his victory has justified captain Leon Smith's decision to rest Draper.
Harris was in total control for much of the match until Virtanen came from two sets behind in the second set to force a tie-break.
Harris held his nerve and clinched a 7-4 victory in the tie-break to pick up Great Britain's second win of the day.
The win gives Great Britain a strong chance at reaching the tournament's knockout stage, with a rested Draper in line for a return against Argentina or Canada this week.
Great Britain will need a top-two finish to progress, and the 22-year-old Draper may be key in securing that against tougher opponents.
Dan Evans had given Great Britain a strong start with a hard-earned victory against Eero Vasa, 7-6(7) 6-2, giving the host nation a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three Group D tie against Finland.
The tie was Evans' 26th in the competition, surpassing Andy Murray and levelling Mike Sangster's appearances, second only to Bobby Wilson on 34.
Evans was taken to a tie-break in the first set despite being a heavy favourite over Vasa, ranked 703 in the world.
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The Brit showed his experience to overwhelm the Fin in the second set and take the win.
With the win already sown up, Evans headed back to court alongside Neal Skupski to take part in doubles action against Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen.
The Fins claimed the match 7-6(4) 7-5 to put the visitors on the board and round up the best-of-three tie 2-1 in Britain's favour.
Britain are aiming to top Group D in the four-nation round-robin and secure a place in the Davis Cup Finals last eight in Malaga later this year.
Other Group D sides Canada and Argentina faced off on Tuesday, the Canadians prevailing as Felix Auger Aliassime beat Sebastian Baez in singles action to take a 2-0 lead before the Argentines picked up a win in doubles.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, the USA team swept Chile 3-0 in Group C as Reilly Opelka and Brandon Nakashima fended off Cristian Garin and Alejandro Tabilo respectively in singles matches, before Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram beat Tomas Barrios Vera and Matias Soto in doubles.
Germany also made a clean 3-0 sweep of Slovakia in Group C, while Australia's 2-1 win over France puts them top of Group B, and Belgium sit atop Group A after a 2-1 win over the Netherlands.
Carlos Alcaraz won his singles match against Czech Republic's Tomas Machac, with the Spaniard still to feature in doubles action with the hope of clinching a 3-0 win for Spain.
Italy have secured a win against Brazil after winning their two singles matches, with Matteo Arnaldi lasting almost four hours against Thiago Monteiro before fending off the Brazilian, with doubles still to play.
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