Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SUPER START BY EVANS, BUT THE BRITS BLOW IT
GREAT BRITAIN blew the chance of reaching the Davis Cup semifinals last night.
Dan Evans had given the team a winning start in Innsbruck against Germany, but defeat for British No.1 Cameron Norrie and then Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in the doubles saw them lose the match 2-1.
The deciding doubles rubber had four of the best exponents of the format in the world, with Salisbury and Skupski (below) taking on Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.
Germany won it 7-6 7-6, but Britain looked like they would battle back in the second set after leading the tie-break 5-0 before their opponents astonishingly won seven points in a row.
Evans had put Britain ahead with a commanding display to thrash Peter Gojowczyk 6-2 6-1.
Gojowczyk, who was surprisingly preferred to Dominik Koepfer, served four double-faults in his first two service games to gift Evans two breaks.
The Briton needed no further invitation to take control as his more versatile game brought regular errors from his opponent.
He dropped only eight points on his serve and polished off the win in 55 minutes.
Evans revealed he was unhappy with his morning warm-up and then found himself facing a right-hander when he had prepared to take on a left-hander.
But he rated his performance one of his best of the year.
The 31-year-old said: “I practised pretty poorly. I stayed out on the practice court a little longer. Just pressure, a pressure situation. Got a bit angry.
“I think (captain) Leon (Smith) hit the nail on the head, it’s sort of good to have a bit of an edge on days like today.
“It’s not his best match by any stretch, but I think I contributed a lot to that. I took on his second serve early.
“I made him hit the double faults. I’m not stupid. I know he hadn’t played Davis Cup for a little while and I used that to my advantage.”
Norrie could have sealed it, but was beaten 6-7 6-3 2-6 by Jan-lennard Struff in the second singles rubber.
Struff made a flying start and opened up a 4-1 lead in the opening set.
But Norrie hit back and served for the set at 6-5 before having two set points in the tie-break, only for Struff to reel off four points in a row.
Norrie has worn down many opponents this year with his relentless hitting and attitude, and he broke serve for 4-2 in the second set before levelling the match.
And Norrie looked to be in the ascendancy at the start of the decider, but Struff held firm and finished with a run of five games in a row.
The doubles were a tight and tense affair throughout, with the German duo edging the first set 12-10 on a tie-break after saving four set points.
At 5-0 in the second-set tie-break Britain had their chance, but Krawietz and Puetz hit back to send Germany through to the semi-finals in Madrid on Saturday.