by Great Britain delivered an impressive demonstration of its singles strength in its opening Davis Cup group match in Manchester, as newcomer Billy Harris led a Jack Draper-less team to a 2-0 victory over Finland.
A year after his brilliant performances took Britain to the quarter-finals, Dan Evans overcame a tough first set against Eero Vasa, playing several levels above his modest ranking of No. 703, before Evans won 7-6 (3), 6-2. Making his first Davis Cup appearance at the age of 29, Harris kept his composure under increasing pressure to close the match with an outstanding 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Otto Virtanen.
Five days after Draper faced Jannik Sinner in his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, questions remained about what role the British No. 1 would play in Manchester. After spending less than two days at home in London, Draper arrived here on Tuesday morning and completed his first practice session later that day, but the first tie came too soon.
This is Britain’s first Davis Cup since Andy Murray retired from the Olympics, and Cameron Norrie, the British No. 2, was sidelined after withdrawing from Paris because of an arm injury. Evans’ ranking plummeted to No. 178 despite a positive run to the third round at the US Open, and Harris, No. 101, went into his first Davis Cup appearance as his team’s best player.
One might have expected a straightforward first match for Evans against Vasa, whose career-best score is just 601, but the 27-year-old came onto the court with a strong serve and a determination to attack freely with his forehand. After a close first set, however, Evans took the second with ease.
Harris followed up Evans’ victory with a brilliant performance of his own. Virtanen is just nine places below him and the powerful server played a key role in Finland’s surprise run to the Davis Cup semi-finals last year.
After building a 6-4, 4-2 lead through good serves and constant attempts to get the first shot on his forehand, Harris played a sloppy service game and found himself in a battle to decide the second set. He kept his composure until the end and completed one of the biggest wins of his illustrious career.
Harris has had an incredible breakthrough in the last year. He has spent his entire career at the lower levels of the professional tour, reaching his highest ranking of 290th until last October. He then rose rapidly up the rankings and was close to breaking into the top 100. Now he has represented his country at the highest level and won.
