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

Julia Carrot · All-time great

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

S&V · Club Coach

Amazing, I am so very happy about this.

HossTheBoss · Strong Club Player

Thats My Boy.

RJA · Hall of fame

I missed most of this match but got back in time to see Dan win.

Absolutely brilliant.

Reeltime · Satellite level

1 down, 2 to go!

spud · Challenger qualifying

Very, very impressed! A completely new Dan Evans, taking the game to his opponent and showing such a strong mental attitude throughout, well done lad.

ROCK3 · Lower Club Player

Brilliant play.

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

I missed the match but the perfect result to come home from work to! Now we just need Ward to find his best form for a perfect day.

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

WOW.

I was not expecting that. Great stuff from Dan. Has he finally come of age?

Would be great to see James make it 2-0. Put SVK under immense pressure.

S&V · Club Coach

Still going to be tough but just a fantastic start.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Such a change in attitude from Dan, compared to his previous DC matches. You have to wonder just how much is down to the change of captain? During the opening ceremony, Dan was looking really fidgetty and nervous, but as they walked on court, Leon had him laughing. Well done Leon, too!

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Madeline wrote:
YES!!!!

Just what I expected of course

Edit - I really wanted a "tongue in cheek" smiley but couldn't find it. . .

How about the good ol' fashioned

RJA · Hall of fame

Mervatron wrote:
Great stuff from Dan. Has he finally come of age?

Yes I think he has, but the process has happened over quite a long time. I saw a lot of his matches last summer and while he wasn't playing great I was impressed with how much his attitude had improved and said at the time that I thought he was close to playing well and he just needed to discover some confidence. Winning the Shefield futures and ending his title drought has clearly been a spring board and his Zagreb results were obviously very pleasing. Today's win shouldn't be viewed as a massive surprise.

RJA · Hall of fame

Madeline wrote:
Such a change in attitude from Dan, compared to his previous DC matches. You have to wonder just how much is down to the change of captain? During the opening ceremony, Dan was looking really fidgetty and nervous, but as they walked on court, Leon had him laughing. Well done Leon, too!

I think it is a pretty obvious that John Lloyd was a very poor Davis Cup captain. He was under pressure himself and allowed that pressure to be transferred to the players and for guys like Evo and Goodall coming into the team that wasn't a good thing. Leon Smith is clearly better at dealing with the players.

murrayman650 · ATP level

Ward To serve first

0-15

15-15

30-15

30-30

40-30

1-0 Ward