Davis Cup 2012 - E-A Zone I R1 - Great Britain v Slovak Republic, 10-12 Feb

RJA · Hall of fame

RE: Davis Cup 2012 - E-A Zone I R1 - Great Britain v Slovak Republic, 10-12 Feb

RJA · Hall of fame

I am also going to repeat what I said on Friday. Contrary to what the pundits might say these performances haven't come out of nowhere. The signs were all there last summer that Dan was heading in the right direction, the attitude was good and although he wasn't getting the results he seemed like he was close to playing well. He had some good results in the Autumn and started the year well.

Jan · Hall of fame

Just brilliant. Had to leave at 4-3 in the 5th, so I'm thrilled to get back and see Dan held his nerve.
Watched on a stream. Yes, AC was irritating, but hey, if it's a choice of no tennis or tennis with AC, I know which I take!
Anyway, back to the main topic. Well done everyone - especially Dan. And huge congrats to Leon - he must have played a huge part in that match today.
Does anyone know if the last game/on-court interview are on youtube or the like? Would appreciate a link if you know of one. Thanks.

RJA · Hall of fame

Jan wrote:
Does anyone know if the last game/on-court interview are on youtube or the like? Would appreciate a link if you know of one. Thanks.

For Dan's sake I hope they don't put his interview on YouTube. Poor lad was rambling incoherently.

indiana · Tennis legend

So, Belgium at home in April, with the reward for a win the men also getting into a World Group Play-Off.

Quite amusing Dan replying to the theory that Andy would have a fight maybe to get into the team ' "He's welcome to it" smile

I'd be highly tempted just to go without Andy for the Belgium match, now that at least Group 1 for next year is assured, and then look again at things if we get into September's World Group Play-Off.

Jan · Hall of fame

RJA wrote:
Jan wrote:
Does anyone know if the last game/on-court interview are on youtube or the like? Would appreciate a link if you know of one. Thanks.
For Dan's sake I hope they don't put his interview on YouTube. Poor lad was rambling incoherently.

oh, OK! Who could blame him!!

RJA · Hall of fame

indiana wrote:
So, Belgium at home in April, with the reward for a win the men also getting into a World Group Play-Off.
Quite amusing Dan replying to the theory that Andy would have a fight maybe to get into the team ' "He's welcome to it"
I'd be highly tempted just to go without Andy for the Belgium match, now that at least Group 1 for next year is assured, and then look again at things if we get into September's World Group Play-Off.

Can't agree with that. Realistically we have little or no chance without Andy so if he wants to play lets go for it. The big question then is, Evans or Ward?

RJA · Hall of fame

steven wrote:
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.

I actually think that winning it in 5 was probably more impressive than winning it in straight sets. At the start of the fifth his mind must have flashed back to Lithuania two years ago and a defeat that seemingly did massive psychological damage. To come out and play a fifth set as good as that, and seemingly without fear, says more about his improvement than a comfortable straight sets win would have. I said it before but his service hold at *4-3 was immense, he had face a BP in his previous service game and I think we were all expecting a very tough and nervy game. To see Dan walk from his chair with a smile on his face and then serve like that was to put it mildly a little surprising.

For once I doubt that anyone in the LTA will begrudge him a drink or two tonight.

Priesty · Challenger level

Fantastic stuff everyone! Especially from Evo! Where's he been hiding all this time? As has been said, hopefully this will be the start of something.Obviously it's one thing to perform like that in front of your home crowd and another thing altogether to produce the goods when playing in front of 3 people in a Challenger in Outer Mongolia, but this shows what he's capable of.

S&V · Club Coach

I am still on a high over this one, I truly expected another gallant defeat.

steven · Tennis legend

GB jump 12 places in the DC rankings to 33 (Slovakia are unchanged, 1 place ahead of us, while Belgium are 24th, down 2), their best position since the summer of 2009, when we were already well on the slide.

The official DC ranking list is at http://bit.ly/p31end and my list of recent GB ties, DC rankings and how the ranking points are made up is at http://bit.ly/bi3QDD

Count Zero · Tennis legend

great performance by Dan, i too feared the worst when it went to a 5th but, with a bit of luck on a line call, he held his nerve and got the job done.

Seems like it was an alignment of the stars for him though, he hustled really well on a court that seemed to suit him, with opponents who took a long time to settle in the match.

The question will be is will he now be promoted ahead of Ward for the Belgium tie? Obviously it will depend on if Andy chooses to play, but the Belgiums would appear to be another step up with 4 very good singles players to pick from.

So will they host it in the Braehead again?

RCD · Intermediate Club Player

Count Zero wrote:
So will they host it in the Braehead again?

Yep, the LTA announced Braehead as the Belgium tie venue after Dan's win yesterday

http://www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/Davis-Cup/News/2012/GB-to-play-Belgium-at-Braehead-Arena-in-Davis-Cup/

Count Zero · Tennis legend

Ok, i guess that's good as they have a good atmosphere there and it's probably good for the players to play in a place that has good memories. how many of the recent ties have been held there?

johnnylad · Tennis legend

RJA wrote:
johnnylad wrote:
Would you believe I was only able to catch sets 3 & 4. Great work Evo!!!
So you were the jinx

True. I am expecting a package of free tickets for the Belgium tie as my thanks for turning it off at 0-1 in the 5th. (I had to go somewhere - I hadn't given up!)