Dan Evans fell agonisingly short of another upset as Dmitry Tursunov gave Russia a 1-0 advantage over Great Britain in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie yesterday.
Captain Leon Smith made a late decision to bring Evans into his team at the expense of Glasgow's Jamie Baker, but it was a very difficult task for the world No.325 against a player ranked 258 places higher. Evans more than justified his selection with another impressive display but it was not quite enough as Tursunov won 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, after almost four hours play.
Smith's call was influenced strongly by Evans' efforts in the competition last year, particularly against Slovakia in February, when he beat two higher-ranked players to win the tie for Britain. Russia was another step up, Tursunov being not just a high-level player but a experienced one, with seven ATP Tour titles.
Evans, initially overlooked for this tie, did lack a little spark in the opening stages. He did fight back from an early break, but it was not enough to save the first set.
In the second, Evans grew into the match and, when he broke to lead 4-3, it was just reward. It looked like the chance may have gone when he was broken back serving for the set, but he responded brilliantly in the tie-break. On his second chance, Evans clinched it with a backhand down the line at the end of a terrific rally, to the delight of the near 3000-strong crowd.
Tursunov was once a top-20 player and it was a measure of how well the British No.6 was playing that the gap looked as small as it did. The Russian could always rely on his serve, though, and it helped him to win the third set, giving Evans no chance on two break-back points. The 30-year-old then moved a break ahead in the fourth only for Evans to level at 2-2. He was hanging on and the Russian was getting rattled, especially when Evans forced two set points at 5-4.
He could not take them, though, and was on the back foot again at the start of the decider. He fought back only to drop his serve again, and this time the Russian made no mistake, clinching victory with an ace.
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