Monday, September 19, 2016

Argentina into Davis Cup final after beating Great Britain

Argentina into Davis Cup final after beating Great Britain

Leonardo Mayer beat Dan Evans in the fifth and decisive rubber to knock the defending champions out of this year's competition and send Argentina through to its fifth Davis Cup Final

A comeback proved a step too far for Great Britain as Leonardo Mayer booked Argentina’s place in a fifth Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final with a four-set victory against Dan Evans in a fifth and deciding rubber.

After losing both matches on the opening day, the defending champions had fought back to level the tie with world No. 2 Andy Murray defeating Guido Pella 63 62 63 in the first of Sunday’s reverse singles rubbers.

But Argentina claimed a 3-2 triumph as Leonardo Mayer replaced Juan Martin del Potro for the decider and recovered from a set down to beat Evans 46 63 62 64 in two hours and 44 minutes.

Argentina will now travel to take on Croatia in the final on November 25-27 as they bid to win the Davis Cup trophy for the first time.

Captain Daniel Orsanic said: “It’s a very special moment for the whole team. It was a great victory to beat Great Britain here in Glasgow, it means a lot

“Leo’s match was something we believed could happen, but I think it was a great effort from his part after playing a little nervous in the first set. He came out with his best tennis, with the tennis we used to see, with the tennis that made him win a lot of Davis Cup matches and that’s why we believed in him for the last match, especially on this surface.”

There had been much surprise when Mayer was announced as a replacement for Del Potro for the pivotal match of the tie, although it was understandable when considering that the latter had played for more than eight hours over the first two days.

Mayer came into the match on a Davis Cup singles win streak of eight but the 29-year-old looked tight in the early stages, putting a forehand wide to give Evans the break for 2-1. Mayer continued to spray errors all over the place and Evans went on to close out the set.

But Mayer settled in the second set and ramped up his big serve. He broke for 31 with a forehand winner down the line and recovered from 0-30 when serving for the set to level the match.

Experienced Mayer – who is currently the world No. 114 but can produce higher-quality tennis than his ranking suggests – worked his opponent around the court and quickly moved 41 ahead with a double break before going two sets to one up.

World No. 53 Evans had the home crowd roaring in delight after saving three break points in the first game of the fourth set and holding serve. But he struggled to make any impact on his return and Mayer did eventually claim the break for 3-2 to edge closer to victory.

Evans forced Mayer to close out the tie at 5-4 but there was no let-up in power from the Argentine as he held to love and his team-mates rushed onto the court to celebrate a stunning performance.

Mayer was emotional on court after overcoming a rough period of injury. He said: “After the tough years I have had, it was an amazing match for me and I was delighted when I got the call to be part of the team for the Davis Cup.”

Earlier, Murray had forced a fifth rubber with a straight-sets win over world No. 49 Pella in two hours and 11 minutes despite not being in peak physical shape after his exertions over the previous two days.

Murray did not have to wait too long to break, moving 3-1 ahead with a powerful backhand winner. It was enough for Murray to see out the set, sealing it after just 36 minutes with an ace down the middle.

Murray immediately broke Pella’s serve in the first game of the second set as he took charge from the back of the court. The Brit failed to take six points for a double break in the third game as Pella held but only needed one at the next opportunity before taking a two-set lead.

There were nervy moments for the British team when Murray was forced to take a medical timeout off court early in the third set with an upper leg injury but he returned to complete the job, sealing victory with a double break of the Pella serve.

Of overcoming his weary state, Murray said: “I think this weekend I just accepted it better than I have in the past. I expected to feel tired, I expected to be in some pain this weekend, I spoke to my team about that. I knew it was going to be hard so my expectations were less.

“Sometimes I go into ties thinking it was going to be alright and at the end of it I felt horrendous. Like the end of the match against Japan [earlier this year] when I hadn't played for a while, I felt physically shattered after that.

“Obviously I wasn't so emotionally tired after that match but I had just become a father for the first time so that was a challenging period for me. Because I accepted how I was going to feel [here] I handled it OK.”

This is Great Britain’s first defeat since the 2014 quarterfinals against Italy in April 2014. Captain Leon Smith was understandably disappointed but is already looking forward to Thursday’s draw for next year’s competition.

Smith said: “We’ve lost a semifinal so of course it sucks, it feels rough, and so it should. We’ve worked really hard to get to this point again.

“We’ve had great times in the Davis Cup, it’s amazing. When you reflect back on it, we’ve had an amazing run. Our team is in much better shape than it was a few years ago and we will continue to enjoy the weekends. Next year is another opportunity to try and keep building the team and it gives players opportunities to play in what is an amazing event.”


Article from Daviscup.com
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