Great Britain’s Davis Cup campaign ended as Dan Evans was beaten in straight sets by Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on Sunday.
Britain’s loss to Argentina on Friday, combined with other results in the group, meant Leon Smith’s side went into the final tie knowing only a 3-0 victory would send them to the finals in Malaga in November.
But Evans went down 6-0 7-5 and the first set was a case of gone in 26 minutes as the Canadian, ranked World No 100, ignored the partisan support to take control.
Manchester was transformed into tennis city with a raucous home support but the crowd – bigger than Centre Court at Wimbledon at 15,700 – fell flat.
Shapovalov dampened the partisan atmosphere an immediate break of serve and it went downhill from there for Evans in a first set where he only managed to win nine points.
It was far from the case of the Davis Cup stalwart giving up after the first set, though. Evans fought valiantly in the second as Shapovalov – part of the Canada side that won the Davis Cup in 2022 – seemed to play within himself.
Evans roused the crowd by celebrating every hard-fought point and at times, with a band playing in the stands, the atmosphere felt like a football match. That spurred Evans on but he could not prevail against his 25-year-old opponent, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2021.
Shapovalov, previously a top 10 player, has seen his ranking slide drastically after a knee injury but he was composed and savvy, calmly putting out Evans’ fiery resistance with a break in the final game.
Jack Draper and a further doubles tie are scheduled on Sunday, with the British No 1 playing Felix Auger-Aliassime in a much more subdued atmosphere.
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