Evans and Norrie spur Team GB on to see off the French
Great Britain took a big step towards the Davis Cup quarter-finals yesterday as Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie secured victory over France behind closed doors in Innsbruck.
A great atmosphere in the camp has been a key feature of Leon Smith’s long tenure as captain and that will be even more important here with no fans allowed due to Austria’s lockdown.
Evans (inset) has always shown huge passion playing for his country and he was pumped up throughout a 7-5 6-4 victory over Adrian Mannarino that gave Britain the perfect start.
Norrie then saved two set points in a tense tie-break before clinching a 6-2 7-6 (8) win against debutant Arthur Rinderknech.
Rinderknech was then a late substitute in doubles for Pierre-Hugues Herbert and teamed up with Nicolas Mahut for a surprisingly comprehensive 6-1 6-4 victory over Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski.
The 2-1 victory in the tie means Britain need to beat the Czech Republic today to be sure of topping the group and staying in Innsbruck for Tuesday’s quarter-final.
Evans and Mannarino had played three times before, all of them close, but the British No. 2 recovered quickly from failing to serve out the opening set and took his opportunity in the second.
Evans, 31, admitted he felt the nerves of contesting the first rubber, saying: “I find it a bit more pressure coming out as No. 2. Your job is to open up the tie, to set it up.
“There’s no denying they’re a strong, strong doubles team. We go one down, they’re in form, it’s a difficult doubles. No one wants to be sat there at 1-1. I want it to be 2-0 and out of there.”
It played out that way thanks to Norrie, who claimed his 51st tour level win of the season against his former college rival Rinderknech, who is another player to have made a big leap forward this year.
The Frenchman could not cope with Norrie’s relentless play in the opening set but hung in well in the second and came agonisingly close to forcing a decider.
“It was tense,” said Norrie. “It was difficult because he was serving well. When he got the chance, he was coming forward, so it was tough for me to get into the rally with him.
“It was another huge win, especially in the circumstances with the pressures of Davis Cup, playing France, potentially qualifying. There was a lot on the line. To beat a player of his calibre was massive for me. I managed to do enough today.”
A 3-0 victory would have put Britain in a very strong position but debutant Salisbury and Skupski were outplayed despite France having to break up Herbert and Mahut, who won the ATP Finals last weekend.
The Czech Republic are the weakest team in the group on paper but they gave France a fright on Thursday and have had two days to prepare for today’s match.
Smith said: “We saw all of the matches were difficult against France. We shouldn’t expect anything different. I think it will be a very difficult tie.
“They’ve had a day’s rest, as well. That’s a benefit. So we’ll push hard tomorrow.”