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
Dan Evans defeats Lukas Lacko 6-3 7-5 7-5
Martin Klizan defeats James Ward 6-2 4-6 6-4 7-6
Colin Fleming/Ross Hutchins defeat Michal Mertinak/Filip Polasek 6-3 7-6 0-6 6-3
Lukas Lacko defeats James Ward 7-6 6-1 6-3
Dan Evans defeats Martin Klizan 6-1 6-1 4-6 3-6 6-3
GROUP I EUROPE/AFRICA 2ND ROUND: GREAT BRITAIN – BELGIUM 1-3, Glasgow, hard
Steve Darcis defeats Josh Goodall 6-7 6-3 6-4 6-4
Olivier Rochus defeats Dan Evans 3-6 6-5 7-6 6-4
Colin Fleming/Ross Hutchins defeat Ruben Bemelmans/David Goffin 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4
David Goffin defeats Josh Goodall 6-4 6-4 6-4
What a memorable Davis Cup weekend, with some massive performances by Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt.
Great Britain – France: 3-1
Gilles Simon defeats James Ward 6-4 6-4 6-1
Andy Murray defeats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 7-6 6-2
Andy and Jamie Murray defeat Nicolas Mahut/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-1
Andy Murray defeats Gilles Simon 4-6 7-6 6-3 6-0
One more disillusion for the French team after their defeat in the final last year. Despite 3 top 20 players in their team (Simon, Tsonga and Gasquet), they could not beat Team GB at Queen’s club this weekend. Andy Murray won three matches in as many days to propel Great Britain into the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time in 34 years.
We think Leon Smith sums it up perfectly! #Legend #Respect #DavisCup pic.twitter.com/1EUvYt5kID
— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) July 19, 2015
Probably my favourite pic from the weekend. #DavisCup. #proudmumtweet pic.twitter.com/WVkazDeKa3
— judy murray (@judmoo) July 20, 2015
Australia – Kazakhstan: 3-2
Mikhail Kukushkin defeats Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4 6-3 6-3
Aleksander Nedovyesov defeats Nick Kyrgios 7-6 6-7 7-6 6-4
Sam Groth/Lleyton Hewitt defeat Andrey Golubev/Aleksander Nedovyesov 6-4 7-6 6-2
Sam Groth defeats Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 7-6 4-6 7-6
Lleyton Hewitt defeats Aleksander Nedovyesov 7-6 6-2 6-3
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios were respectively 3 and 4 when Lleyton Hewitt played his first Davis Cup match back in 1999. And this weekend the soon-to-retire showed them how the job has to be done. After the surprising defeats of the young guns, Groth and Hewitt won the doubles on Saturday, and on Sunday Sam Groth levelled the tie against Mikhail Kukushkin. Hewitt then defeated Nedovyesov in straight sets to complete Australia’s first 0-2 comeback since 1939.
Sunday's #DavisCup #PhotoOfTheDay is @lleytonhewitt after he sealed Australia's 0-2 comeback & sent them to the semis pic.twitter.com/Ibx278ZYie
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) July 19, 2015
The Emirates Arena in Glasgow is the favourite to host the much anticipated semi-final clash between Great Britain and Australia, that will meet for the 13th time, with the Aussies leading 8-4 and having won the last three.
Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt are ready to rumble:
See you in September @lleytonhewitt @TKokkinakis @NickKyrgios
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) July 19, 2015
Looking forward to it champ @andy_murray #GBRvAUS https://t.co/xsO4sm0MCT
— Lleyton Hewitt (@lleytonhewitt) July 20, 2015