Evans loses but signs of promise for Britain after two rubbers

DAN Evans may have lost out to Lithuanian number one Ricardas Berankis to level the tie at 1-1, but there were definite signs of progress for Great Britain in their Davis Cup clash in Vilnius.

PROMISING SIGNS: Great Britain are tied 1-1 after the opening singles rubbers of their Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone group II clash with Lithuania in Vilnius (Getty Images)

Despite putting in a far-improved performance to his two previous Davis Cup matches, the 19-year old lost for the third successive time, eventually going down 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

But the youngster will take heart from his performance against a player ranked 49 places higher than him, and after James Ward's victory in the opening rubber, the tie remains firmly in the balance.

And with both British singles players impressing in the absence of Andy Murray, doubles pairing Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski will be chomping at the bit to continue the cause.

In Murray's absence, the British team had looked distinctly vulnerable in Vilnius but both singles players showed the grit and determination that were sorely lacking in last September's Group I relegation playoff defeat to Poland.

With no live Davis Cup rubber victories between the six of the squad, which promptly became five after Jamie Baker's withdrawal with a foot injury, the British team were seemingly there for the taking.

And in 19-year old Ricardas Berankis - who reached his first ATP quarter final in San Jose in February - the Lithuanians possessed someone who could potentially pull off the win.

But the British also sensed this was their chance to impress and Ward's emphatic 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory against Laurynas Grigelis in the opening rubber was indicative of this.

With serve and forehand firing on all cylinders, Ward never looked like losing against an opponent ranked 252 places below him and sealed the victory with minimum fuss.

And the 23-year old's victory, which ended a 13-year spell without a British Davis Cup singles winner other than Murray, Tim Henman or Greg Rusedski, was a rallying cry to the rest of the squad.

Evans got off to a miserable start against Berankis, dropping his serve three times in a one-sided opening set.

But whereas in his two previous Davis Cup matches, the 19-year old had capitulated in straight sets, Evans dug in and restored parity with a gritty display in the second.

And as the match developed, both players started producing tennis which belied their low rankings.

Berankis took advantage of a rare moment of weakness from Evans to take the third set on a tie-break but the Brit bounced back in style, forcing a decider.

The Lithuanians sensed their man was flagging and roared him on as Berankis took an early break in the fifth set, only to be silenced as once again Evans refused to lie down.

A further break proved to be decisive for Berankis as he levelled the match with the win, but even in the final game, Evans displayed a previously unseen fight, capturing three break-back points before eventually succumbing.

Fleming and Skupski will take on Grigelis and Dovydas Sakinis in the doubles leg on Saturday.