JUAN Martin who? The Murray brothers are busy re-writing the Scottish sporting stereotype but for Birmingham’s finest, Dan Evans, there was a taste yesterday of what is known in these parts as glorious failure.
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However, despite the boisterous support of the home crowd, world number 53 Evans could not prevent Argentina from reaching their fifth final in the men’s team competition as they seek their first Davis Cup crown.
Murray is taking a well-earned rest but Smith hopes the likes of Kyle Edmund and Evans can now make a name for themselves as individuals.
By the stats at least, the Brummie was perhaps a marginal favourite going in here.
Mayer, who in June a year ago was ranked 21 in the world, showed his experience in the third set as he immediately broke in the first game.
On the verge of tears, Jamie continued: “You know we played a great match, it was exciting for me because Juan Martin [Del Potro] played the match, and for me, it’s exciting to play against the best players in the world”.
PARIS-An emotional Leonardo Mayer led Argentina past defending champions Great Britain and into their fifth Davis Cup final on Sunday where they will face Croatia in November’s title showdown. News stories displayed here appear in our category for Sports and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization.
Murray will now focus on resting his aching body ahead of a scheduled return to tour action in Beijing in two weeks’ time, which may mean sitting out his own charity event in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Peering into the future – with Britain’s next tie to be played over the first weekend in February – shouldn’t be terrifying for Leon Smith, the captain, or anyone else who cares about the fortunes of one of the founding nations of this competition.
Evans started well in winning the first set 6-4 before Mayer aggressive approach began to reap rewards. He did it great. the guy just played too good today. He won 85% of first serve points in total, and 97% on second.
Evans, to his credit, fought and fought in a 15-minute opening game of the fourth, saved three break points to ever-increasing roars of encouragement from the fans. However, he struck Mayer on one of his inspired days. They broke into an impromptu mass huddle. After the first set I wasn’t in the match. I felt a lot of pressure on my serve and he served unbelievable. It went perfectly for us”, added the 27 year old on his arrival back in Buenos Aires, saying that “I have enough time to prepare (for the final). “When it did, he actually played pretty well from the back, I thought he was aggressive – took a lot of time away from me”.
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But to do that he needs to be in peak condition, and the physical, not to mention emotional, drain of playing Davis Cup matches can not be helpful.
