Finland opened their Davis Cup group stage with a 1-2 draw against hosts Great Britain in Manchester.
In the absence of Emil Rusvuori, the early stage was easy for Finland. In the first match, 703rd-ranked Eero Vasa took on 178th-ranked Briton Daniel Evans. In the first set, Vasa played evenly with Evans at pace. Unfortunately, the first set was decided in a tiebreak after a double fault by Vasa. In the second set, Vasa could not handle the experienced Evans who easily won the match. The winning numbers were written as 7–6 (7–3), 6–2.
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In the second match, the Briton pitted 101st-ranked Billy Harris against 110th-ranked Otto Virtanen. The Brits opted to save new US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper for the upcoming tournament. Harris, playing in his first Davis Cup match, won the first set 6-4.
The second set was decided in a tiebreak. Harris turned a 2-3 deficit to make it 6-3. Virtanen saved a match point before Harris leveled the bag with his 7-4 win. The numbers 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) were written thus.
Finland got some blasts in doubles injuries when Virtanen won against Neil Skupski and Daniel Evans when he partnered Harry Heliovara. The winning numbers were written as 7-6, 7-5.
For Finland, the Davis Cup continues on Thursday with a match against Canada.
– Canada has a very strong team with two top ten ranked players. Their form is still in question. I still think we have a good chance to beat anybody, Virtanen tells Yle.
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