Britain have Dan Evans to thank for a great start to Davis Cup tie

It was by far the biggest win of his career for the 21-year-old Evans, who is ranked more than 200 places lower than his opponent and has never won a match at ATP World Tour level.

The last time Evans played in the Davis Cup was two years ago when he lost both singles rubbers in the nadir of defeat to Lithuania, but this could not have been more different and gave Britain a great chance of winning a very difficult tie on their return to Europe/Africa Zone Group I.

Evans had lost all four of his previous Davis Cup rubbers, failing to win a set on home soil before. But he has shown encouraging form of late and, perhaps freed from pressure by the huge rankings gap, began like a train.

He broke serve at the first opportunity and withstood some strong pressure from Lacko to take the opening set with a crisp backhand volley, a shot that was a real feature of the match.

The difference between the two players was emphasised last week in Zagreb when Evans earned plaudits simply for qualifying while his opponent went all the way to the final. Evans, who stands only 5ft 9in, has always been a scrapper but has been heavily criticised in the past for a lack of maturity on and off the court and it is only this year that he has worked his way back to the top level of Team AEGON funding.

Captain Leon Smith spoke in the build-up of the improvement in Evans’ attitude and it really showed in the second set when he twice fought his way back from a break down.

In truth Lacko, who also reached the third round of the Australian Open as a qualifier before losing to Rafael Nadal, gave the Birmingham player a helping hand, double-faulting when he had just broken to go 2-0 up and then playing another poor game as the pattern was repeated at 4-2.

And Evans, whose career-high ranking of 248 came more than two years ago, punished the Slovakian fully by breaking again in the 11th game and serving out the set to love with an ace.

The pair had met once before, coincidentally in Glasgow at a Futures tournament two years ago, when Lacko won in three sets, but the 24-year-old looked short on answers at the start of the third here.

He saved three break points in the opening game but not a fourth and was struggling simply to stay in contention against Evans, who was mixing his game up well and showing admirable composure on the big points. Two break points went begging at 3-1 and this time Lacko did take advantage, levelling at 3-3 when, for the first time, the occasion appeared to get to Evans.

Regular watchers of British hopefuls may have expected that to be the turning point but Evans quickly put it behind him and was a game away from victory when he broke to lead 6-5, jumping with glee when his return proved too good for Lacko.

Sealing it was not entirely straightforward, Evans netting a simple volley to go break point down but he staved it off and clinched the decisive point when Lacko hit a return long.

Evans admitted afterwards he had surprised himself with the manner of his victory, saying: “It was good fun.

“To beat him in three straight wasn’t what I thought would happen if I did win. I was confident before that I could win but not in such style. I was nervous at the start. When I practised there wasn’t anyone there [in the crowd] but I started pretty well, got on top and played good tennis. Leon was good on the chair. Even when I was a break up in the third and I lost my serve it was as if nothing had happened, he was positive all the way through.”

Evans, who moved from Birmingham to London in December to start working at the National Tennis Centre under new coach Julien Hoferlin, attributed his change in fortunes from past Davis Cup ties to an increased sense of self-belief. He added: “In the last ties I’ve felt pretty small on the court but even at the start when we were stood to go out, I felt like I could hold my own.”

Ward, who had won seven of his nine rubbers before today, and was ranked only 38 places below his opponent. But this time it was the Slovakian on form in the early stages and he raced through the first set. Ward dug deep, saving seven break points at the start of the second set, and the momentum swung.

Klizan’s level dropped and Ward finally broke through in the 10th game, taking his third set point when the Slovakian hit a backhand wide.

The third set was nip and tuck but Ward missed a chance to break at 4-3 and Klizan reeled off three games in a row.

The British No2 moved 4-1 ahead in the fourth but played a sloppy game to allow Klizan back into it and it was the Slovakian who dominated the tie-break.