By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday September 17, 2023
Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved four match point against Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger Vasselin to send Great Britain to the final 8.
Photo Source: Getty
The new format at Davis Cup, which doesn’t allow for home ties during the finals, has been tough for some teams. Ties at neutral sites just don’t capture the spirit of one of the sports’ most historic competitions.
But this weekend at the AO Arena in Manchester, everything fell into place for Team Great Britain, who had the home court advantage all weekend and finished off a blissful weekend with a dramatic victory against France to reach the final eight in Malaga.
Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved four match points in the final set and eventually send the home faithful into delirium as the pair notched a 1-6 7-6(4), 7-6(6) over Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Great Britain joins the elite eight, and will head to Malaga, Spain for the Davis Cup knock-out rounds on November 21-26.
Evans, who went 4-1 on the weekend and 2-0 in singles, did double duty on Sunday – he also rallied back from a set down to defeat Arthur Fils, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Ugo Humbert topped Cameron Norrie (7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5) to prolong the drama.
After a third three-set battle on Sunday, an elated Skupski did his best to express his joy.
“I don’t know how we won that match,” Skupski told the crowd after the conclusion of a tense day that featured three-setters in both singles rubbers as well. “Just sheer fight.”
It was a solid weekend for 2022 champion Canada, who won Group A with a 3-0 record, while the Czech Republic also went undefeated. Led by Jiri Lehecka and Jakub Mensik they defeated Novak Djokovic and Serbia for group supremacy on Saturday.
Finland was the surprise champion of the weekend, they defeated Team USA in a do-or-die tie on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals at Davis Cup for the first time.
Australia won Group B thanks in large part to the hard work of Alex de Minaur and Thanasi Kokkinakis, while the Netherlands finished second in Group D, setting the stage for a wide open Davis Cup weekend in Malaga in November.
Spain was eliminated so the home field advantage will be up for grabs, depending on which nation travels the best.