Dan Evans had zero wins from his last 10 matches, but he was the hero of Britain’s tie against Slovakia: he beat Lukas Lacko ranked 211 places above him in straight sets, and Martin Klizan, ranked 156 places higher, in the deciding rubber.
Britain faced Belgium in the second round. Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins kept the British hopes of a comeback alive after Olivier Rochus and Steve Darcis wins. But David Goffin, making his Davis Cup singles debut defeated Josh Goodall in straight sets to propel Belgium to the World Group play-offs.
GROUP I EUROPE/AFRICA 1ST ROUND: GREAT BRITAIN – SLOVAKIA 3-2, Glasgow, hard
What do Roger Federer and Lukas Lacko have in common? They have both bageled Rafael Nadal. A pretty rare feat as the Spaniard has only lost a set 6-0 12 times in his career.
But apart from that, not much. The Slovak, ranked 88 in the world, has a 6-8 record in 2014. His best result in 2014 came in Miami where he qualified for the main draw and won two more matches.
Federer has a much better year this year than last year: he won in Dubai and reached the final in Brisbane, Indian Wells and Monte Carlo.
Federer controlled his first round match from the start and breezed past Lukas Lacko in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
At the end of the match, Federer thanked his wife (Mirka was there with twins 1 and 2 but no Edberg) and talked a bit of his foundation. This year, Roland Garros supports the Roger Federer Foundation and gives a 25€ donation for each ace.
Lower tournaments are a good opportunity to discover young players in the making like Karen Khachanov and Quentin Halys, or some charismatic veteran players like Rudy Coco.
