Davis Cup: Great Britain beaten by Argentina as Jack Draper makes losing return

Great Britain's hopes of qualifying for the Davis Cup quarter-finals suffered a significant blow as they were defeated 2-1 by Argentina in Manchester in their second Group D contest.

Leon Smith's side made a winning start to their Finals campaign on Wednesday with a 2-1 triumph over Finland, meaning that their top-two finish could have been secured with a favourable result on Friday.

However, Dan Evans's 2-6 5-7 loss to Tomas Martin Etcheverry put paid to that idea, before Jack Draper - who did not feature against Finland on the back of his run to the US Open semi-finals - was beaten 6-7[4] 5-7 by Francisco Cerundolo.

Evans and Neal Skupski at least managed to avoid a 3-0 whitewash for GB with a 6-3 7-5 doubles victory over Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, leaving the fate of all four Group D nations clouded in uncertainty ahead of Sunday's finale.

Two days on from seeing off Finnish world number 703 Eero Vasa, Evans faced a step-up in quality against world number 34 Etcheverry, who took two hours and six minutes to get the better of the home favourite first up.

Key to the Argentine's victory on Friday was his exceptional defence coupled with Evans's wastefulness, as the Briton squandered each of the seven break points he brought up while losing serve three times himself.

© Imago

GB's defeat on the day was rubber-stamped when Draper - clearly not at 100% after his gruelling US Open exploits - fell in straight sets to Cerundolo, only managing 14 winners throughout the two-hour and nine-minute battle.

Statistically the second-best men's player at converting break points over the past year, the off-colour British number one only took two of the 10 such chances that he fashioned against Cerundolo, who capitalised on his opponent's mental and physical fatigue.

However, Evans and Skupski at least made amends for their doubles loss to Finland two days ago to get GB on the board at the third time of asking, leaving everything to play for in Group D.

How can GB qualify for the Davis Cup quarter-finals?

GB's hopes of a top-two finish in Group D may very well rest on a 3-0 victory against table-topping Canada on Sunday, as Smith's team are now third in the section behind their two transatlantic counterparts.

The Brits would need a perfect result against Canada unless bottom-of-the-table Finland can earn a shock victory over Argentina, and the rubbers begin with Evans taking on Denis Shapovalov.

Draper then faces Felix Auger-Aliassime in an intriguing showdown, before Skupski and Henry Patten are scheduled to meet Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil in the last doubles battle.

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