eal Skupski mentioned he and doubles accomplice Dan Evans refused to hit the panic button regardless of going through 4 match factors of their must-win match towards France in a thrilling Davis Cup tie on Sunday evening.
With the tie poised at 1-1 following the singles, Nice Britain’s place within the final eight in Malaga in November rested on Evans and Skupski towards Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Evans recovered from three match factors on his serve at 4-5 whereas Skupski needed to defend a solitary match level serving at 5-6. The pair held agency to win 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.
Regardless of the nailbiting nature of the match, Skupski mentioned: “There was no panic. We just went to the next point. I knew if we got through that game somehow the momentum was going to swing our way.”
Evans proved GB’s man of the hour after additionally recovering from a set down within the opening singles rubber to beat Arthur Fils in entrance of a 13,000-strong partisan crowd on the AO Enviornment in Manchester.
Afterwards, Evans mentioned: “The singles is the singles and I feel comfortable on that court but the doubles was chaos. I just kept saying to Neal ‘we’ve got a chance, we’ve got a chance’ and we both kept going. We stuck together.
“Davis Cup is why I played tennis at the start. I remember watching the Birmingham ties, finishing late on a Sunday night. That was my first introduction to professional tennis really.
“So it’s emotional. You want to be with these guys in the finals. It’s an immensely proud moment for me and the team.”
