Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski overcame Tomas Machac and Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-2 Sunday at the Davis Cup Finals in Group C to book Great Britain’s spot in the quarter-finals.
The pair did not face a break point and fired 36 winners to complete Great Britain’s 2-1 comeback victory against the Czech Republic after 74 minutes.
“Today was tough,” Great Britain captain Leon Smith said. “You look at the rankings and people think it is straightforward but it is never like that in the Davis Cup. I’m thrilled for these guys [Salisbury and Skupski]. To come out and play as well as they did speaks volumes. We asked for passion, determination and the quality comes after that. I’m really proud of them.”
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In the first match of the tie in Innsbruck, Austria, Machac won 80 per cent (24/30) of his first-serve points to upset World No. 25 Daniel Evans 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 35 minutes to give the Czech Republic the lead.
However, Cameron Norrie then levelled the tie, downing Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 in one hour and 43 minutes. Norrie broke five times and hit 23 winners in his victory. Great Britain tops Group C, after also defeating France 2-1 on Saturday.