Dan Evans & Kyle Edmund send Great Britain into Davis Cup semi-finals

[Lunix I]

 

Dan Evans dug deep to send Great Britain into the semi-finals of the inaugural Davis Cup finals in Madrid with a thrilling win over Germany.

British number one Evans, who had lost his previous two matches, beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) to give GB an unassailable 2-0 lead.Earlier, Kyle Edmund beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets as Andy Murray sat out again.

Britain will face either Spain or Argentina on Saturday.Evans' relief at pushing Britain over the line without needing Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski to win the doubles, and finally earning a vital victory himself, was clear as he threw his racquet high towards the roof of the indoor arena when Struff pushed a forehand wide on the first match point.

Sprinting over to his team, Evans then leapt into the arms of his jubilant captain Leon Smith before being mobbed by his delighted team-mates and their support staff.

"The last two days I came up short and the other guys got it done," Evans, 29, said. "But it's not about me - it is about everyone."

Hosts Spain, led by 19-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, are level at 1-1 against an Argentina side without the injured Juan Martin del Potro on the main show-court at the Caja Magica.

Britain's semi-final will take place on the same 12,500-seater Manolo Santana arena at 16:30 GMT on Saturday, with live text and radio coverage across the BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

By reaching the last four, Britain also assured themselves of a spot in next year's season-ending finals, which are the brainchild of Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique and have features 18 nations competing at the inaugural 'World Cup of tennis' in the Spanish capital.

It is the third time in five years that 2015 champions Britain have reached the semi-finals.