Davis Cup 2024: Great Britain exit Finals with third place finish in Group D
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The Lexus Great Britain Davis Cup team have bowed out of this year’s Finals having finished third in Group D in Manchester.
The Brits had to settle for third place after a 2-1 loss against Canada in the decisive final tie on Sunday.
The result means that Great Britain will have to compete in a qualifying tie next year to return to the Davis Cup Finals.
GB Davis Cup Captain and LTA Head of Men’s Tennis Leon Smith said: "We’re obviously bitterly disappointed that we’re not going off to Malaga. It wasn’t to be – Canada were really strong today, I thought their singles players did really well.
"I loved the week. Loved spending time with the guys, seeing some new faces. Loved seeing what Billy (Harris) did, that last match with Henry (Patten) making his debut. I loved playing here, it was great to see so many fans. Playing in front of 15,000 people is pretty unique.
"This level of competition, you need to take your chances – these matches aren’t easy. Not going to make any excuses. We had enough quality in our team to get over the line and we just weren’t able to do it. We’ve had a lot of highs and lows; we’ve had stuff in between but we just have to accept it."
Davis Cup Group D standings
| Team | Ties won / lost | Rubbers won / lost |
| Canada | 3 -0 | 7-2 |
| Argentina | 2 -1 | 6-3 |
| Great Britain | 1 - 2 | 4 - 5 |
| Finland | 0 - 3 | 1 - 8 |
Great Britain got off to a strong start against Finland, with Davis Cup veteran Dan Evans and debutant Billy Harris winning their opening singles rubber, before the Finns clawed back a point in the doubles.
The Brits could have confirmed their spot in the Final 8 with a victory over Argentina on Friday, but the South Americans brought their A-game in a must-win tie.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry clinched an impressive win over Evans in the first rubber, before Francisco Cerundolo played what he called ‘the best match of his life’ to beat Jack Draper 7-6(4), 7-5.
Evans and Neal Skupski rescued a point in the doubles, which meant that going into the final two ties, any team could still qualify.
With Argentina having defeated Finland in their final match on Saturday, Great Britain came into their clash with Canada knowing that they needed to win 3-0 in order to qualify.
However, in front of a record 15,700 strong crowd the Canadian’s were quick to spoil the party, with Denis Shapovalov beating Evans in the opening rubber, before Felix Auger-Aliassime closed out a tight match with Draper.
After his final match, Evans was quick to praise his Captain and the rest of the team after a tough week in Manchester.
“They’re (other teams) a bit more on it when they are playing the host nation, which we know but I think it’s shown this week, especially in the Argentina match.
“Leon is a top, top captain. We spoke about it not being about the matches but about each point. Play each point as best we can, support each point and then that will get us some games. That was our process. It’s frustrating to not give him (Jack) a shot.
“I think I’ve known Leon long enough and he doesn’t have to say much. Whether it’s been the LTA hat, Davis Cup hat, Leon’s stuck his neck out for me. I’m more disappointed for the guys than myself.
“We left ourselves a bit too much to do to beat a Davis Cup outfit like Canada. Everyone has given everything and I’m super proud to have been a part of this team again.
“That’s the loudest crowd I’ve played in front of when they got going at the end. That’s a credit to the teams organising these events at the LTA, to get over 15,000 fans in without Andy Murray. To get that is an exceptional effort.”
