Dan Evans lands second GB singles spot for Davis Cup semi-final
Friday 18 September 2015 07:49, UK
Dan Evans is the shock choice to fill Great Britain's second singles berth in their Davis Cup semi-final with Australia.
Leon Smith has selected the world No 300 Evans, who had been due to play a challenger event in Istanbul this week, over far higher-ranked Kyle Edmund and James Ward for the second singles slot.
Edmund hurt an ankle in training this week, prompting a late call-up for Evans, but the injury was not thought to be serious.
Ward's omission comes on the back of a 10-match losing run since he reached the third round at Wimbledon earlier this summer.
Explaining the decision, Smith said: "It wasn't an easy one but having thought about it a lot, the fact that Dan has played an awful lot of tennis this summer and won a lot of matches, albeit mostly at Futures level, winning really helps. He comes in with a lot of confidence.
"Obviously Kyle, although he is almost fit, still had a fall the other day and it wasn't worth risking anything happening over the weekend, especially when you go in with two singles players and two doubles players. If anything had happened to Kyle on Friday, we would have been up against it.
"For James, the tie maybe just came at the wrong time for him after a tough summer results-wise, but he has played a big, big part in the team to date and I'm sure will play a big part in the future as well. But I felt Dan was the one in the best place to go into the weekend."
Britain take on the Aussies in Glasgow this week aiming to reach their first Davis Cup final since 1978. The men from down under lead the head-to-head rivalry 8-4.
In the opposite corner for the singles will be Thanasi Kokkinakis and Bernard Tomic, who was beaten by Evans at the 2013 US Open.
Kokkanis and Murray meet in Friday's first singles game, and the Scot is also due on first on Sunday, when he faces Tomic.
Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot will face Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth in the doubles rubber on Saturday, although the teams can be changed up until one hour before play.
This is their first semi-final appearance since a 5-0 defeat to Argentina in 2006, while Great Britain's last final-four appearance in 1981 also ended in a whitewash to the South American side.
The winners of the tie will face either Belgium or Argentina in the final from November 27-29.
Join us for live coverage of Great Britain's Davis Cup semi-final against Australia from midday on Friday.
