As the Davis Cup began, Great Britain secured their victory over Finland without needing Jack Draper. The British No. 1 was given a short break after an impressive performance at the US Open, where he reached his first Grand Slam semifinal.
Dan Evans and Billy Harris were selected for the singles matches, both delivering wins. In the doubles, specialist Neal Skupski partnered with Evans, but the pair lost to Heliövaara and Virtanen.
Evans trusts Draper to take charge in Davis Cup
However, Draper is expected to feature in the second tie, which takes place on September 13th against Argentina. The South Americans, who need a win to stay in the competition, have a strong team with Francisco Cerúndolo (No. 31) and Sebastián Báez (No. 26).
The Brits can secure their spot in the Davis Cup Finals with two wins against Argentina. First, Evans will face Cerúndolo, followed by Draper playing his second Davis Cup match, taking on Báez. “I said to Jack last year, ‘Please, it’s going to be up to you, please take it seriously,’” commented Evans.
“He doesn’t need me to ask him, but I think it’s important for him to hear that it’s still a significant event and that he’s going to be the one holding the baton,” Evans added. “They’ll have a strong team soon. They’ve got good young players coming through, like Jacob Fearnley, with Jack as number one.”
“There are people in his team, and rightly so, who might not want him to exert energy this week because he has big tournaments coming up, but this is for the country. He’s come up here, and he’s as committed as anyone on the team,” Evans said. “You saw his celebrations last year with Andy (Murray) in the car—I’m sure he’s passionate about the Davis Cup.”
On the other hand, Evans shared how his adaptation process went when he first joined Team Great Britain: “I was lucky enough when I was really young to be in a tie with Tim (Henman), Greg (Rusedski), Jamie (Murray), and Andy, and seeing how they acted and what it meant to them was everything,” said the 34-year-old player.
“I’ve been really fortunate, and for the younger players, I’ve tried to instill in them the importance of it. I think that’s part of my role on the court,” added the world No. 178. “Anyone playing on Friday or Sunday needs to give it their all because, after a long day, it makes a difference,” said the GB captain. “It was really quiet out there, and we need to make better use of the home advantage.”
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