It was a good day for Team GB as they successfully opened their 2024 Davis Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over Finland at the AO Arena in Manchester where Group D are playing off for a place in November’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
I’m absolutely thrilled for Billy – I think that’s one of the best debuts you’ll have seen. It was that good Leon Smith
Great Britain need to finish this weekend in the top two to qualify for those finals and they have a couple of tougher teams to overcome over the next few days, namely Argentina and Canada,
In the first tie Dan Evans and Billy Harris won their respective singles rubbers in the absence of Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie – the former resting after his excellent run to the semi-finals of the US Open, and the former sidelined with an arm injury picked up during the Olympics. Draper is set to play in the next two ties.
Evans also teamed up with Neal Skupski for the doubles which went the Finn’s way as they avoided a whitewash.
The 34-year-old Evans who has recently slipped own the rankings and is fighting back from his current 178 placing, gave the Brits an excellent start with a hard-earned victory against Eero Vasa, ranked 703 but playing at a much higher level than that ranking suggests.
With a big serve and powerful forehand, he had Evans very much on the defensive in the opening set but once he got his rhythm and his opponent’ weaknesses, he rolled through the rubber to secure GB’s first point, 76(1) 6-2 in 97-minutes.
The new British No.3, Harris, now ranked 101 following a good run of positive results during the summer, then made his debut in the competition aged 28, by defeating Otto Virtanen, world ranked 110, 6-4 7-6(4) to put GB in unassailable lead with the doubles to follow.
“There were definitely a few nerves in there, I can’t lie” Harris admitted after his win. “You’re not just playing for yourself; you’re playing for your country. Three years ago I was probably ranked about 600 so I had no chance of getting into the team. It’s a very proud moment to represent your country.”
Draper who was supporting the play from the sidelines and could be in action in the next tie against Argentina on Friday celebrated the win with the team
Billy Harris was the star of the show
(Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA)
Meanwhile Leon Smith, the team captain added, “I’m absolutely thrilled for Billy – I think that’s one of the best debuts you’ll have seen. It was that good.
“If you look at Otto’s record over the past couple of years in the Davis Cup it’s pretty flawless.
“Billy actually could have won in a more straightforward manner – he was absolutely immense. Nothing really kind of fazes him, even though he’s not really been on a big court before.”
With the tie already won, Evans headed back to court alongside Skupski to take part in doubles action against Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen which wsas claied by the Finns 7-6(4) 7-5.
Other Group D sides Canada and Argentina faced off on Tuesday, the Canadians prevailing as Felix Auger Aliassime beat Sebastian Baez in singles action to take a 2-0 lead before the Argentines also avoided a whitewash by winning the doubles.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, the USA swept Chile aside 3-0 in Group C as Reilly Opelka and Brandon Nakashima fended off Cristian Garin and Alejandro Tabilo respectively in singles matches, before Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram beat Tomas Barrios Vera and Matias Soto in doubles.
Germany also made a clean 3-0 sweep of Slovakia in Group C, while Australia’s 2-1 win over France puts them top of Group B, and Belgium sit atop Group A after a 2-1 win over the Netherlands.
Carlos Alcaraz won his singles match against Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac and featured in the doubles o clinch a 3-0 win for Spain against the Czech Republic.
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Italy secured a win against Brazil after winning their two singles matches, with Matteo Arnaldi’s victory lasting almost four hours against Thiago Monteiro before fending off the Brazilian, with the doubles still to play.
