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Great Britain must win a deciding doubles rubber against France to keep alive their Davis Cup hopes for this season after Cameron Norrie was beaten by Ugo Humbert in Manchester.<\/p>\n
Dan Evans fought back from a set and a break down to see off teenage debutant Arthur Fils 3-6 6-3 6-4 to give Britain the lead in front of a 13,000 sell-out crowd at the AO Arena, a single day record for the competition in this country.<\/p>\n
An out-of-form Norrie also battled from behind to force a deciding set against Ugo Humbert but was unable to take it, the Frenchman winning 7-6 (5) 3-6 7-5.<\/p>\n
It will therefore come down to the final match of the week to decide who joins Australia in qualifying for the final eight event in Malaga in November.<\/p>\n
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Team selection has been one of the most intriguing aspects of this week and here it was France springing a surprise by turning to 19-year-old Fils ahead of the experienced Adrian Mannarino, against whom Evans has a great record.<\/p>\n
Smith opted for his two highest-ranked singles players, overlooking Jack Draper, who made his own impressive debut in beating Australia\u2019s Thanasi Kokkinakis on Wednesday, and Andy Murray.<\/p>\n
Fils is the highest-ranked teenager in the world at 44 and the most exciting of a crop of young French players.<\/p>\n
It was immediately clear this was not a comfortable match-up for the 5ft 9in Evans, who struggles to impose his finesse-based game against power hitters, and he was in deep trouble when he was broken for a second successive game at the start of the second set.<\/p>\n
Fils had been landing everything but he played a poor game serving at 3-2 to allow Evans back into the contest and from there a combination of the crowd, smart play by the British number two and his opponent\u2019s inexperience turned things around.<\/p>\n
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Fils managed to stay in touch in the deciding set and Evans had to come through a tense final game, leaping and punching the air before expressing annoyance at his opponent for a very perfunctory handshake.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a super nice guy,\u201d the 33-year-old said later. \u201cI understand it now.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I\u2019m a bit fired up when I was at the net as well. It\u2019s fine, he\u2019s a little younger than me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in that situation, you just want to get off the court.<\/p>\n
To be playing in front of such a big crowd for the country again, it’s everything to me<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played very good at the start. A very unorthodox forehand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took me a little while to get into it. It\u2019s been a pretty long week. Maybe I was a tiny bit flat at the start but I got the crowd involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing crowd today. You really helped me get through when I was a set and a break down and not feeling exactly how I wanted to be playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be playing in front of such a big crowd for the country again, it\u2019s everything to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evans\u2019 victory gave Norrie the chance to clinch the tie, with Smith keeping faith with his number one despite his disappointing last few months and a loss to Stan Wawrinka on Friday.<\/p>\n
Norrie saved a set point to force a tie-break in the first set against his fellow left-hander Humbert but blazed a backhand wide after fighting back from 2-6 to 5-6.<\/p>\n
Norrie was not playing badly, though, and he secured the first break of the match to take a 2-0 lead in the second set.<\/p>\n
Against Stan Wawrinka on Friday he had wilted from a similar position but here Norrie passed a real test by saving two break points at 4-2 and then another at 5-3 after three set points had come and gone.<\/p>\n
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It was the sort of gritty tennis that carried Norrie to the top 10 not so long ago, and he clinched his fourth chance to send the match to a deciding set.<\/p>\n
Norrie seemed in the ascendancy for much of it but could not force a break and it was he who cracked serving to stay in the match, a double fault handing Humbert\u00a0 a victory the Frenchman described as one of the best of his life.<\/p>\n