Stircrazy wrote:

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freerider wrote:

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is there a stream for this anywhere?

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Some of us refuse to line the pockets of Murdoch & his ilk, mb!  

We refuse Murdoch, we get cable via virgin/branson- maybe some consider that just as bad!

He certainly is!   4-0*....  He seems to be thriving in matches against higher-ranked opposition at the moment.  Maybe that's the secret/answer...

Well done that Dan!!! I wrote him off after the third set but i was so wrong. Chuffed to bits

Outstanding from Evo, talk about being in the zone.

Just about recovered from all that excitement ... and having waited so long for a DC weekend like that, even more annoyed that I got ill just before I was due to go up there - not that it does anything to stop me being extremely happy about the result

I hope this tie is the making of Dan Evans (who, as RJA said, had already been showing improvements in attitude, etc, under his latest coaches) - I think it should be - it's not just one big win against a player not firing on all cylinders, fantastic as Friday's win against Lacko was. It took real character to come out firing again today and then to cope with the loss of the 3rd and 4th sets - he came through all the big tests this weekend.

A lot of credit should go to Leon too for getting the best out of his players (or at least the best out of enough of his players to win each tie!) after years of DC captains seeming all too often to get the worst out of them. A bit of luck, maybe, but having seen him in action, I think there is a lot more than luck involved.

A few stats to show just how big a deal this was:

a) This is the first time GB have won a live 5th rubber in Davis Cup since Rusedski beat Rybalko in 1997 (15 years ago) and only the second time we have done it since 1982

b) This is the first time GB have won a Davis Cup tie at Group 1 level or above without a top 100 singles player in the team since Jeremy Bates, then WR 186, and Mark Petchey, then WR 324, (plus Nick Brown in the doubles) beat Austria in Manchester in 1991 (21 years ago) - having by the looks of it been preferred to the GB no 2 at the time (Andrew Castle), Petchey upset Thomas Muster in the 2nd rubber on day 1 to set up that win (Muster never did like grass!)

c) Evo is the first Brit to win a live 5th Davis Cup rubber in front of a home crowd in the UK since Buster Mottram did it against Italy in Brighton in 1981 (31 years ago)

d) Evo is the first Brit to win the 5th set of a live 5th Davis Cup rubber since Mark Cox managed it against West Germany in Birmingham in 1969 (43 years ago!)

Finally, I haven't checked this, but I would venture a guess that Evo is the first Brit to win two live singles rubbers in a Davis Cup tie at G1+ when officially (or, pre-1973, effectively) ranked outside the top 250 ever!