Great Britain rested Jack Draper for their opening tie of the Davis Cup following his epic US Open semi-final defeat four days earlier; debutant Billy Harris helped the hosts to victory over Finland in Manchester; elsewhere, Sonay Kartal reach her first WTA quarter-final in Tunisia
Wednesday 11 September 2024 20:58, UK
Jack Draper was rested for Great Britain’s Davis Cup opener, but his replacement Billy Harris came to the fore to help the team beat Finland 2-1.
Britain's first tie of the tournament came just four days after Draper's physically draining US Open semi-final in New York, where he was beaten by eventual champion Jannik Siner.
Team captain Leon Smith subsequently opted to give the British No 1 extra rest following practice ahead of tougher ties against Argentina and Canada at Manchester's AO Arena on Friday and Sunday respectively.
However, the hosts still had more than enough to ensure victory over last year's surprise semi-finalists ahead of the doubles, with debutant Billy Harris taking the decisive win with a 6-4 7-6 (4) triumph in his rubber with Otto Virtanen.
At 29, Manxman Harris is the ultimate late developer having finally made his way to the upper echelons of the sport over the last 12 months after years spent touring round Europe in a converted transit van.
This was a tricky first match against 23-year-old Virtanen, ranked only nine places lower than Harris at 110 and who played a key role in Finland's run to the last four in 2023. The Finns were without their No 1 Emil Ruusuvuori through injury, though, and Virtanen's attempts to force a deciding set fell just short.
Harris was in complete control against an erratic opponent until 4-2 in the second set, when he missed multiple chances to secure a double break and was immediately pegged back, but withstood pressure to force a tie-break and showed composure to clinch the victory.
"It was always going to be tough coming in playing No 1 with Jack and Cam [Norrie] and people not around," Harris said. "But I thought I went out and played a good match.
"Definitely a few nerves in there, you're not just playing for yourself, you're playing for team and country. But as soon as it got going I felt good out there. A very proud moment and I'm happy I put in a good performance."
However, Finland manage to avoid being swept as Virtanen teamed up with Harri Heliovaara to beat Evans and Neal Skupski 7-6 (4) 7-5 in the doubles.
Evans' clash with Vasa was a landmark occasion for the British veteran, who by playing in his 26th tie in the competition surpassed Andy Murray to claim joint second place in the British standings alongside Mike Sangster and behind only Bobby Wilson.
He would not have been a bigger favourite in any of his previous 37 rubbers, but Vasa played well above his standing of world No 703 during a tight first set.
"I knew his ranking, which probably made it a bit more difficult, there's a lot more pressure for me to win the match," said Evans, who has slipped to 178 in the world after a difficult 12 months.
"As well as Billy being a debutant, I really wanted to be 1-0 up, just would help him out a bit more. I did well to weather the storm, and it was pretty comfortable in the end.
"Every week is great, it's amazing to be part of the team. I don't know how many more times I'll get a chance, so I'll carry on enjoying it."
British No 4 Sonay Kartal reached the first WTA quarter-final of her career with a straight-sets win over Mai Hontama at the Jasmin Open in Tunisia.
The 22-year-old qualifier from Brighton backed up her victory over fifth seed Jaqueline Cristian in the first round with a dominant 6-2 6-2 success.
Kartal, ranked 46 places below her Japanese opponent at 151 in the world, made the perfect start with a break of serve on her way to a 3-0 lead and clinched the first set in style with another break courtesy of a backhand winner which clipped the line.
The second set was a carbon copy as Kartal, who reached the third round at Wimbledon earlier this summer, opened up a 3-0 advantage again before converting a third match point on the Hontama serve.
It's not yet confirmed when Draper will next be in action, but after a brief hiatus the ATP Tour swings back into action with events in China and Japan from September 16 onwards.
The Chengdu Open (ATP 250) and Hangzhou Open (ATP 250) tournaments will be live on Sky Sports Tennis from that week, followed by the China Open (ATP 500) in Beijing and Japan Open (ATP 500) in Tokyo from September 23.
All matches will be watchable on Sky Sports as Draper looks to improve his impressive form on hard courts (17 wins - 9 losses), and across the calendar year (30-18) depending on where he next decides to play.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
