BRITS’ DOUBLE BLOW
Salisbury and Skupski cannot save the day as Germans win
GREAT BRITAIN blew an excellent chance to reach the Davis Cup semifinals last night.
Dan Evans had given the team a perfect start against Germany in Innsbruck but defeat for British No.1 Cameron Norrie and then Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in the doubles allowed the Germans to triumph 2-1.
The deciding doubles rubber had four of the best exponents of the format in the world, with Salisbury and Skupski taking on Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.
Germany won it 7-6 7-6 but Britain looked like they would battle back in the second set after leading the tie-break 5-0, before their opponents won seven successive points.
Evans had given captain Leon Smith, right, the dream opening with a commanding display to thrash Peter Gojowczyk 6-2 6-1. Gojowczyk, who was surprisingly preferred to Dominik Koepfer, served four double-faults in his first two service games to gift Evans two breaks.
The Briton needed no further invitation to take control as his more versatile game extracted regular errors from his opponent, who never settled. He dropped only eight points on his serve and polished off the win in 55 minutes. Evans revealed he was unhappy with his morning warm-up, and then found himself facing a right-hander when he had prepared to take on a left-hander.
But he rated his performance as one of his best this year.The 31-yearold said: “I practised poorly. I stayed out on the practice court a little longer. Just pressure, a pressure situation. Got a bit angry.
“I think Leon [Smith] hit the nail on the head – it’s sort of good to have a bit of an edge on days like today.
“It’s not his best match by any stretch, obviously, but I contributed a lot to that.
“I took on his second serve early. I made him hit the double faults. I’m not stupid. I know he hadn’t played Davis Cup for a little while and I used that to my advantage.”
Norrie could have sealed it but was beaten 6-7 6-3 2-6 by JanLennard Struff in the second singles rubber.
Struff made a flying start and opened up a 4-1 lead in the opening set. But Norrie hit back and served for the set at 6-5 before having two set points in the tie-break, only for Struff to reel off four points in a row.
Norrie, who has worn down many opponents this year with his relentless hitting and attitude, broke serve for 4-2 in the second set before
levelling the match. And Norrie looked to be in the ascendancy at the start of the decider, but Struff held firm and finished with a run of five games in a row.
The doubles was a tight and tense affair, with the German duo edging
the first set 12-10 on a tie-break after saving four set points. At 5-0, in the second-set tie-break, Britain had their chance but Krawietz and Puetz hit back to send Germany through to the semi-finals in Madrid on Saturday.