Argentina reached its first Davis Cup final since 2011 on Sunday after Leonardo Mayer sealed a 3-2 victory over defending champion Britain by beating higher-ranked Dan Evans.
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Argentina – whose Davis Cup charge is spearheaded by del Potro – defeated Great Britain 3-2 in Glasgow at the weekend, while the Croats booked their berth in the final with a 3-2 win over France.
It was a valiant effort by the GB players who advanced from their quarter-final with Serbia despite Andy Murray’s absence and then had to watch as their talisman lost his opening singles rubber to Juan Martin Del Potro on Friday.
Andy and Jamie Murray kept Great Britain’s hopes of retaining their Davis Cup title alive on Saturday while 2005 winners Croatia took a step closer to the final.
The Argentines will travel to Croatia for the November 25-27 final after Marin Cilic assured his side of only its second final appearance. His participation in the Davis Cup has added to the exhaustion, considering he played in both the singles and doubles event of the tournament.
Yet Steeb came back from 0-2 sets down against Wilander to win 8-10, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 and 8-6.
Mayer made far too many errors in the first set, but, once he found his game and broke for 3-1 in the second, the momentum was set.
Many were surprised by the decision-making of Argentina’s captain Daniel Orsanic, who elected to play Juan Martin del Potro in doubles on Saturday and then left the big man off the singles docket for Sunday’s critical battle.
“This is much better and we’ve just got to try and keep continuing that momentum”.
Although Del Potro won just one rubber and did not play in the decisive fifth match, his presence kept the British guessing and impacted the outcome of the tie.
Argentina will face Croatia, who beat France 3-2 in the other semi, in the November 25-27 final.
“We worked really hard to get to this point again but we’ve had great times in Davis Cup and when you reflect back, we’ve had a hell of a run”.
Great Britain’s winning Davis Cup run may be over but there is every reason to feel positive, according to captain Leon Smith.
Andy Murray levels the tie to keep Britain alive into the final reverse singles.
The Scot said: “I’ve never really had any muscle injuries before”.
“It’s a very special moment for the whole team”.
“I expected to feel exhausted and I knew I was going to be in some pain”, he said.
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Upon being asked whether or not there was a sixth sense between the two brothers on the court, Jamie replied: “It’s better for me to be playing with him [Andy Murray] in front of a Scottish crowd, it gets quite emotional”. “I have played so much tennis, my body needs some rest”.
