Evans holds his nerve in Davis Cup thriller to deliver win for GB

The visitors were favourites going into the tie but Evans, ranked 276th in the world, got Britain off to a superb start by beating Lukas Lacko on Friday and looked set to seal the win in style when he raced through the first two sets yesterday.

But world No 120 Klizan turned things completely on their head in sets three and four before Evans somehow found a way back in the decider, clinching victory after two hours and 53 minutes before being held aloft by a delighted British team.

Britain’s hopes rested on the Birmingham player after James Ward’s straight-sets defeat by Lacko earlier in the day, which had left the Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie level at 2-2.

The victory, Smith’s fifth in a row since taking over the captaincy from John Lloyd two years ago, means Britain will play Belgium back at Braehead in April for a place in the World Group play-offs.

Evans had played two Davis Cup ties prior to this weekend, been involved in deciding rubbers both times and lost them, once to Poland in 2009 and then Lithuania two years ago.

The 21-year-old found himself out of the Davis Cup side following that loss, one of British tennis’s lowest moments, and struggling to get his ranking inside the top 300.

Earlier, Ward had rather lost his way after matching Lacko blow for blow in the tightest of first sets, the world No 65 putting in a much better performance than he had against Evans on Friday to win 7-6 (11/9) 6-1 6-3.

Ward said: “It was a great level for the first set and I thought we played a great standard of tennis. But it was tough to come out on the losing end and he then hit a lot more freely and played really well.

“Sometimes there’s not much you can do. When a player gets hot it’s tough to deal with and it seems like I had that both days. I gave it my best and it just wasn’t good enough today. It’s tough to take, I don’t like losing.”

Anne Keothavong has qualified for the main draw of the lucrative Qatar Total Open after a 6-4 6-4 victory over fellow British player Heather Watson.

Their first professional meeting came only a week after they had teamed up to help Britain’s Fed Cup team and it was Keothavong who dominated.