The marathon three-match, three-set tie began at 4 p.m. Cameron Norrie brought Great Britain level, recovering from a set down to beat Taylor Fritz 2-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 and set up the basis for a decisive double tire. After two hours and 49 minutes of drama, the star US doubles team of Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock overcame Joe Salisbury and Andy Murray 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to seal the tie. It was always likely to be the toughest tie for both Great Britain and the USA, two evenly matched teams. In the first rubber, the aggressive attitude of the much-improved Paul saw him to victory against Evans in an intense, high-quality encounter on the slow courts of Glasgow. “It’s tough. It’s tough. But another good effort,” Evans said. “This is Davis Cup, isn’t it? Everything is tough matches. We knew this was going to be tough. It certainly proved to be me. I was playing good tennis. I just couldn’t get over the line.” An even tougher challenge awaited Norrie, who climbed to a new career-high ranking of No.8 this week, as he faced the much-improved Fritz, the winner at Indian Wells earlier this year who has established himself at the forefront of US men’s tennis and is currently ranked No. 12. For much of the match, Fritz smothered Norrie with long serves and controlled aggression. She took the first set and then set up a break point in each of Norrie’s last four games in the second set. Norrie dragged himself into a tiebreak and then eventually began to push Fritz back and draw mistakes from the American. He took the tiebreak and then had the upper hand throughout the final set. “I think for me, I know exactly what’s on the line. I know it’s a must-win match for us. I think the more pressure there was, the more I was backed into a corner, the better I actually played today,” Norrie said. Cameron Norrie celebrates after beating American Taylor Fritz. Photo: Steve Welsh/PA With the match coming down to doubles, Captain Leon Smith opted for Murray’s extensive match experience against Neal Skupski, the world’s No. 3 doubles player. It initially looked to be a winning decision as Murray initially played exceptionally well alongside Salisbury, navigating countless tight games to take a 7-5, 3-1 lead. They then conceded five of the next six games, with Sock’s forehand coming alive as they headed for a final set. The two teams went blow for blow throughout the third set, with the American team sealing its only decisive break at 5-5 and then closing the tie just before 1am. “The only positive from tonight is that usually you lose a Davis Cup doubles match, you might lose the whole tie or whatever, you’re out of the tournament. But with the new format, obviously we got two more matches. We must try to see the positives from today. I think everyone played at a good level from what I saw,” Murray said. In view of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, each group tie began with a minute’s silence, with each team present on the pitch before the match on Tuesday, the first day of the match. No music was played during the tip change throughout the event. Despite these changes, the typical sounds of drums and chants were present at the Emirates Arena. “It was sad [during the] limb change,” Evans said. “Something was missing. This is right now. We are very lucky to be playing. Fortunately the event was allowed to continue. We just do the best we can. Yes, it was still a good atmosphere, I still enjoyed it.” The Davis Cup finals are being played in a new format this year, the third different format across the three competitions since Kosmos, the sports investment firm co-founded by footballer Gerard Piqué, took control of the competition in 2019. It is now split into two separate the group stages, each of the four groups being played in different European cities, with Glasgow hosting Group D: Great Britain, the United States, the Netherlands and Kazakhstan. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stages in Malaga in November. Despite the dramatic scenes, such a late finish is also a reflection of questionable scheduling by the organisers, who opted to start the tie at 4pm. While Great Britain faces the Netherlands on Friday, Team USA must return later on Thursday for its second tie with Kazakhstan. “It’s not ideal,” Murray said of the late finish. It’s not just here, obviously. We’ve seen it at the US Open even just last week. It’s something that tennis needs to think about a bit. I don’t think it looks that professional.”
