By Tennis Now | Friday, November 22, 2019
Dan Evans edged Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(2) giving Great Britain an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Germany in the best-of-three match Davis Cup quarterfinal.
Photo credit: Citi Open Facebook
Dan Evans' biggest Davis Cup win sent Great Britain into the Davis Cup semifinals.
British No. 1 Evans edged Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(2) giving Great Britain an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Germany in the best-of-three match Davis Cup quarterfinal at Madrid's La Caja Magica.
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The victory vaults Great Britain into the Davis Cup semifinals against either Spain or Argentina.
Winless in his prior matches this week, Evans stepped up with his best performance of the tournament.
"It's great," Evans said afterward. "Listen, I lost matches lately. I felt I let the team down in the last two days. To get it like that was amazing. The team supported me through everything.
"I served great. I thought I played good the last two days, but couldn't get over the line. Before the match I didn't feel great. Everybody on the team got me going."
For the second tie in a row, British captain Leon Smith opted to start Evans and and Kyle Edmund in singles rather than former world No. 1 Andy Murray and the captain was rewarded for his confidence in the pair.
World No. 69 Edmund opened today's quarterfinal defeating Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-5.
Edmund cranked 10 winners taking the 32-minute opening set on the strength of a pair of service games.
Kohlschreiber and Edmund traded breaks in the fourth and fifth games of the second set.
The 24-year-old Edmund, who did much of his damage with his crackling forehand, surprised Kohlschreiber banging a couple of backhands down the line to break for 6-5. Edmund served out the match in the next game.
"We have the best away fans here 100 percent," Edmund said afterward. "It feels like a home tie playing here. We appreciate the efforts and we really feel it."
Ten-time Davis Cup champion Great Britain is playing for its first trip to the final since 2015 when Murray led Team GB to the Davis Cup championship with a 3-1 victory over host Belgium in the final.