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Dan Evans and Jack Draper fired Great Britain to an opening-day victory over Australia at the Davis Cup in Manchester. Team captain Leon Smith picked Draper, who reached the US Open fourth round last week, over the more experienced Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie to kick things off against Thanasi Kokkinakis.<\/p>\n
And the 21-year-old secured a debut 6-7 (6) 6-3 7-6 (4) win after two hours and 52 minutes in front of a jubilant 9,000-strong crowd at the AO Arena.<\/p>\n
“He said he wanted me out there and he believed in me,” Draper said. “From that we didn’t talk too much about it, I prepared well and trained well.<\/p>\n
“I really only thought about it an hour before I played, to which the nerves started coming in. I was definitely a bit nervous. But I know I played some tough matches in the US Open and felt really good about my tennis. When I got out there, with all the people supporting me, it felt amazing.”<\/p>\n
Evans then entered the fray against world No. 12 Alex De Minaur and stunned the highest-ranked player in the group 6-1 2-6 6-4.<\/p>\n
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Evans said: \u00a0“I was incredibly nervous walking out, practising here, and it’s a lot bigger than I expected and very much closer to the court than we’ve played before. It was amazing, thank you for all your support, I love playing in front of you all and I get another chance in about 30 minutes!<\/p>\n
“I knew the tie was not over if I lost and Jack [Draper] played an amazing match and got us off to an amazing start and that made my job easier. He came out and got us a win and he has been amazing.”<\/p>\n
Skipper Smith has been working on team harmony as GB hunt their first title since 2015.\u00a0The hosts take on Switzerland in their second of three group games on Friday.”We’ve been playing darts a lot in the team room,” Draper said.<\/p>\n
“Some are better than others – I’m pretty poor. I throw it like an arrow. So, yeah, it was an inside joke. A guy on the team, Billy Harris, who is here as a hitter, is the best. He brings his own darts. He hits 140s.<\/p>\n
“From the players, Andy [Murray] is very competitive – as he would be. Dan [Evans] just talks loads of trash. It’s really great fun, especially being part of a team because that’s something we don’t get to do a lot.”<\/p>\n
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Britain’s top tennis stars are staying in the same hotel as the Manchester United squad Friday night ahead of their clash with Brighton at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
And boyhood Red Devils fan Draper is hoping to run into Erik ten Hag’s men.<\/p>\n
“I’m a Manchester United fan. I think they’re [the team] staying in our hotel on Friday night so I’ll have to give them a pep talk,” he explained.<\/p>\n