Daniel Evans clinched a vital three-set victory for Great Britain on Wednesday in the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage in Manchester.
The World No. 27 edged past Australian Alex de Minaur 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 to give his country a 2-0 lead (ultimately a 2-1 victory) in its Group B tie. Evans, who is competing in his 23rd Davis Cup tie for Great Britain, the joint fifth highest in his countries history, broke De Minaur’s serve five times to advance after two hours and 10 minutes.
Earlier, Jack Draper earned victory for Great Britain on his Davis Cup debut, downing Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(4).
The 21-year-old lefty rallied from a break down in the third set, clawing back to 5-5 before he sealed his two-hour, 54-minute win with a backhand winner in the tie-break. Draper reached the fourth round at the US Open earlier this month.
The 2022 Wimbledon champions, Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell, earned Australia a rubber win by defeating Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski 7-6(5), 6-4. Great Britain and Australia are joined in Group B by France and Switzerland. France defeated Switzerland 3-0 in its opening tie on Tuesday.
Canada Upsets Italy
Defending champion Canada also triumphed, defeating Italy 3-0 in Group A in Bologna.
In the opening match of the tie, World No. 200 Alexis Galarneau upset Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(10), 6-4. The 24-year-old saved two set points in the first set en route to his win.
Gabriel Diallo then sealed the win, beating Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-4 in his second Davis Cup singles match. The 21-year-old hit 10 aces and did not face a break point to earn victory against the World No. 18 after 84 minutes.
Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil completed their country’s 3-0 triumph with a 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Simone Bolelli and Matteo Arnaldi.
This week 16 countries are competing in the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage from Tuesday through Sunday in the hopes of reaching the Final 8 in November in Malaga.
The countries will compete across four groups in four cities — Group A in Bologna, Group B in Manchester, Group C in Valencia and Group D in Split — with the top two countries per group to qualify for the knockout stage in two months.