Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury fell an agonising doubles rubber defeat as Great Britain went down to a 2-1 defeat towards USA in a tie which ended at 12.58am on the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.
Dan Evans misplaced the primary rubber to Tommy Paul earlier than Cameron Norrie scrapped to a gutsy win over Taylor Fritz to ship the tie to a deciding doubles rubber.
But Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury have been unable delight the house crowd and they ultimately fell to a late-night defeat to Salisbury’s US Open-winning associate Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock as USA claimed a gap win in Group D.
A sombre begin to the tie mirrored the interval of nationwide mourning following the Queen’s demise, with the standard music changed by a lone piper and a minute of silence earlier than the nationwide anthems, whereas the British gamers and assist workforce wore black ribbons.
(L-R) Leon Smith, Cam Norrie, Dan Evans, Andy Murray, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski pay their respects to Her Majesty The Queen by way of a poignant minute’s silence
Murray and Salisbury got an enormous ovation as they stepped out for the deciding rubber at 10pm towards Sock and Ram – with whom Salisbury received the US Open solely 5 days in the past.
The British pair edged a protracted opening set and then appeared in command at 3-1 up in the second set however Ram and Sock hit again strongly, successful 5 of the subsequent six video games to stage the match.
As the clock ticked nicely past midnight, extra and extra followers started to depart, however a sizeable quantity noticed it by way of to the top, which got here at 12.58am when Ram and Sock clinched a 5-7 6-4 7-5 victory to hand USA victory in the tie.
Cam Norrie fought again impressively to defeat Taylor Fritz
Norrie was confronted with a must-win match after Evans’ opening defeat, however the British No 1 dug out a 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 victory.
He made a really unpromising begin, shortly dropping the primary set, and, after seeing an early break disappear, was hanging on for a lot of the second set.
But he managed to pressure a tie-break, seized his likelihood in that, and then serve it out on the second try.
Norrie, whose Glasgow-raised father David was among the many crowd, stated: “Honestly I owe it all to the crowd, you guys were amazing. I wasn’t playing my best tennis, Taylor came out firing.
“I managed to grasp in there in the second set, I performed nicely in the tie-break and hung powerful in the third set once more. I liked the ambiance, it is simply nice to be again in Glasgow.
“I knew what I had to do, I had to come out and get a win for the team and I managed to do that.”
Dan Evans misplaced Great Britain’s opening rubber towards Tommy Paul
Paul, the American No 2, received a match stuffed with cat-and-mouse rallies over Evans 6-4 4-6 6-4.
Evans was twice a break up in the opening set however was beneath stress in each service sport and Paul responded right away on each events earlier than clinching his fourth set level.
Evans acquired a warning for swearing however hit again nicely in the second, serving higher and securing the one break in the fifth sport.
Paul appeared to have made the decisive transfer when he broke for 5-3 however Evans hit again, ending off a terrific level with an excellent lob.
The 32-year-old was once more unable to maintain his serve, although, saving two match factors however netting on the third.
Andy Murray appears ahead to honouring The Queen’s life on the Davis Cup in Glasgow
Evans stated: “It was a good match. I probably lost the match in the first set. Very slow court. It took a lot to get used to the balls.
“All credit score to Tommy. I assumed he served nicely after I had my possibilities. It’s a tricky one. But one other good effort I suppose. That’s Davis Cup, is not it? They’re all powerful matches. We knew this one was going to be powerful. It definitely proved to be for me. I performed good tennis. Just could not recover from the road.”
What’s next for Great Britain?
Captain Leon Smith is aware of his aspect should beat the Netherlands and Kazakhstan if they’re to progress in the competitors
The outcome leaves Leon Smith’s virtually definitely needing to beat the Netherlands on Friday (15:00 BST) and Kazakhstan on Sunday (14:00 BST) to attain the final eight shootout in Malaga in November.
There are a complete of 16 nations aiming to qualify for the Finals – being held in the Andalusian metropolis from November 22-27 – by ending in the highest two locations in their group.
Malaga will host the quarter-final phases onwards over a six-day conclusion to the competitors.
Other Davis Cup outcomes
Wednesday’s ties in the opposite teams all noticed victories for the house groups, with Italy defeating final yr’s finalists Croatia, Germany edging previous France, and Spain, minus rested US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, beating Serbia.
Novak Djokovic had been due to characteristic for Serbia however withdrew for private causes, whereas Rafael Nadal is sitting out this stage.
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