Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski charged past Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) to hand Great Britain a 2-1 victory over France and ensure the Brits a spot in the Davis Cup Final 8 on Sunday in Manchester, England.
Evans and Skupski saved four match points during their comeback victory, which gave Great Britain a 3-0 record in Group B and avoided a potential three-way tie at 2-1 that would have favored Australia and France.
The Final 8 are now set: Defending champion Canada and Italy came out of Group A in Bologna, Italy. Great Britain and Australia will go from Group B. The Czech Republic and Serbia emerged from Group C in Valencia, Spain, and Finland and the Netherlands earned their way out of Group D in Split, Croatia.
The Davis Cup group stages took place Tuesday through Sunday in four cities across Europe. The top two teams in each round-robin group advanced to the knockout stage Nov. 21-26 in Malaga, Spain.
Evans gave Great Britain a 1-0 lead over France by rallying past Arthur Fils 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ugo Humbert of France then defeated Cameron Norrie 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5 to set up the doubles match as winner-take-all.
Italy defeated Sweden 2-1 to grab second place in Group A. Matteo Arnaldi beat Leo Borg 6-4, 6-3 and Lorenzo Sonego topped Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the win for Italy. Sweden’s Filip Bergevi and Andre Goransson won the doubles match 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-8 over Simone Bolelli and Lorenzo Musetti.
Group C’s match saw Spain beat South Korea 2-1 in a matchup of two already-eliminated nations. Bernabe Zapata Miralles beat Seongchan Hong 6-4, 7-5. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina topped Soonwoo Kwon 6-4, 6-4. Jisung Nam and Minkyu Song got revenge, winning the doubles match 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 10-8 over Marcel Granollers and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Croatia rallied to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Group D. The Dutch struck first when Botic van de Zandschulp beat Duje Ajdukovic 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Croatia tied it when Borna Gojo knocked off Tallon Griekspoor 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. In doubles, Croatia’s team of Ajdukovic and Mate Pavic beat Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.
Group stage final standings (overall record, individual match record):
Group A
1. Canada, 3-0, 8-1
2. Italy, 2-1, 5-4
3. Chile, 1-2, 4-5
4. Sweden, 0-3, 1-8
Group B
1. Great Britain, 3-0, 6-3
2. Australia, 2-1, 6-3
3. France, 1-2, 5-4
4. Switzerland, 0-3, 1-8
Group C
1. Czech Republic, 3-0, 9-0
2. Serbia, 2-1, 6-3
3. Spain, 1-2, 2-7
4. South Korea, 0-3, 1-8
Group D
1. Finland, 2-1, 6-3
2. Netherlands, 2-1, 5-4
3. Croatia, 1-2, 4-5
4. United States, 1-2, 3-6
–Field Level Media