Tennis players had situations to defeat Great Britain, but did not succeed. Otto Virtanen, who went into his match as the clear favourite, lost a thrilling second set.
Finland lost their first match in Davis Cup. Host nation Great Britain took both singles matches in Manchester.
British top seed Jack Draper played in the US Open semi-finals on Friday and was not lined up for the match against Finland. Draper is ranked 20th in the world and Finland's chances of victory are greatly enhanced by his absence.
Daniel Evans was heavily favored for the first match. It was 27-year-old Eero Vasa from Turku, ranked 703rd in the world, who stood up for the protest.
Vasa invited Evans to the dance and the first set had to be decided in a tiebreak, which the Briton won 7–3.
– The first set was good. With a good serve, I was able to keep a steady pace. Vasa yil says if I had returned well, I would have got rest.
Competition 1
Eero Vasa–Daniel Evans 0–2 (6–7, 2–6)
In the second set, Evans was better. He won the set 6-2 clearly and the match 2-0.
– In the second set, Evans got even more level and that made the difference, says Vasa.
Evans, who is ranked 178th in the world, did his opponents proud.
– It's a tough competition. Evans said after the match that Vasa played well in the beginning.
– I was hard for a long time and had to run a lot. In the second set I raised my level.
Throughout the match, Vasa had trouble with Evans' first serve. In that statistical category, Evans is 92 percent, 33 of 36 points.
Otto Virtanen went back
Otto Virtanen became the clear advance favorite against Billy Harris.
Harris took the first set 3-2. Soon after, Virtanen had a chance to break but was unable to capitalize on his two break points.
In the end, Harris took the set 6-4.
Competition 2
Otto Virtanen–Billy Harris 0–2 (4–6, 6–7)
In the second set, it was worse for Virtanen.
Harris had three opportunities for a double break to take a 5-2 lead. Virtanen saved more break points, breaking to 3-4 and then breaking for 4-4.
The second set had to be decided in a tiebreak, where Harris fought back from 2-3 down to lead 6-3. Virtanen saved a match point before Harris leveled the bag with his 7-4 win.
– Thank you for the home meeting. They took me to victory, says Harris in Victory interview.
Two singles wins saw Great Britain take home a match against Finland.
The minor doubles saw Harry Heliovara and Virtanen square off against Neil Skupski and Daniel Evans. The Finns won 2–0 (7–6, 7–5).
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