Daniel Evans Shines for British Davis Cup Victory

Written by: Staff on 13th February 2012

Daniel Evans Shines for British Davis Cup Victory

Daniel Evans of Britain returns to Florian Mayer of Germany during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 21 June 2011. EPA/FELIPE TRUEBA |

There are not too many Englishmen who have been ecstatically cheered as a hero by fans in Glasgow, that stronghold of Scottish fervor, but Daniel Evans achieved the feat after two dramatic and totally unexpected victories that handed Britain Davis Cup victory against the Slovak Republic.

Evans, aged 21 and ranked 276 in the world, is the player who was severely censored by Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association for nightclubbing during Wimbledon a few years ago. He has repeatedly been warned about his commitment and had his funding frozen, and been questioned by the British police.

In four previous matches in Davis Cup he lacked the strength, both physically and mentally to win and, when last picked, left the court in tears. But in the absence of world no.4 Andy Murray, Evans stepped up to the plate and scored momentous victories against first Lukas Lacko, the opposition’s leading player and world no. 65 in straight sets. Then Martin Klizan, the Slovakian who, five months ago, was at his career-high ranking of No 86 in the world.

Evans tie-clinching 6-1, 6-1, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over Klizan ensured Britain going forward to meet Belgium in the Euro/Africa Zone Group One (April 6-8) and immediately the LTA announced a fourth home tie in succession would be played at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena.

The diminutive Birmingham-born right hander, who stands only 5ft 8ins tall, was thankful for the faith of his captain Leon Smith who puzzled many when deciding to go with his fifth ranked player to fill the vacancy left by Murray who is in Florida for training with coach Ivan Lendl.

“Leon has to take quite a bit of credit,” said Evans. “He kept me calm in the chair, I didn’t really snap once throughout the whole weekend, which probably would have been odds-on to happen at the start,” he said.

“I was enjoying it because it was a good match. Both players were playing good tennis and there’s nothing better when everybody in the building, bar a few, is behind you.

“I’m really pleased with how the whole week went. I’ve never been on a team that’s been as loud as that just behind the court and that helped a lot. The Davis Cup is different, everybody unites together in situations like that.”

Smith observed: “While Dan is the hero of this tie, it’s about the group. I am so proud of the boys and backroom staff.”

However, despite the victory, Smith admitted that world number four Andy Murray would be an automatic choice for the next tie should he be fit. “We would welcome him back at any time,” said the captain who has a 100% record in his five matches in charge with five wins out of five. “But we want selection issues for the other places.”

Topics: British tennis news, Daniel Evans