Great Britain's run at the 2022 Davis Cup Finals has come to a swift end following a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands.
Seeking to bounce back from their opening 2-1 defeat to the USA, Dan Evans was first up against Tallon Griekspoor and kicked off proceedings in strong fashion for GB with a 6-4 6-4 win.
The Dutchman was forced to save a break point in the first game before holding well in the early moments, but a long forehand from Griekspoor handed Evans the only break of the first set in the ninth game, as the Brit took a first set in which he only posted two unforced errors compared to his counterpart's 10.
After saving a break point in the first game of the second set, Evans broke in the seventh game with another sublime backhand winner, although he squandered two match points before getting the job done on the third.
Evans limited Griekspoor to just the one break point in the entire match and also came up with nine winners on his backhand compared to his opponent's three.
"We've got a great backroom staff. That's what the Davis Cup is all about. It made me look a bit better than I was and it was nice to get through," Evans said on the court.
"He served incredibly well. It's sometimes frustrating, he could serve me off the court. I just kept calm and it got me through."
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Cameron Norrie was next up against Botic van de Zandschulp and got off to a poor start against the 26-year-old, being broken in the third game after a couple of early errors.
Norrie would fail to respond, but he managed to save three set points before Van de Zandschulp eventually wrapped up the first set with an ace, and the Dutchman would break in the first game of the second set as well.
While the Wimbledon semi-finalist was far from his best in Glasgow, Van de Zandschulp played an exceptional match and got over the line 6-4 6-2 to force a deciding doubles encounter, with Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury taking on Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop.
Despite breaking straight away in the first set, Murray and Salisbury were pegged back to a tie-break by the Dutch duo, who remarkably won that tense battle 7-0 to clinch a first-set lead.
Both pairs saved respective break points in another tightly-contested second set, and the Netherlands would overcome a double fault at an inopportune moment to force yet another tie-break.
A Salisbury forehand smash would galvanise the home crowd as GB went 2-1 up on the Netherlands serve, and after saving a match point, Murray and Salisbury sparked pandemonium as Koolhof could only find the net at close range to lead to a third set.
At 4-3 up, the Netherlands were handed three break points on a Salisbury double fault, and Murray's subsequent backhand landed just wide to put the Dutch one game away from clinching the match.
Those in orange silenced the atmosphere at the Emirates Arena after Koolhof and Middlekoop brought up three match points, ultimately taking the first on offer as Murray sent a forehand return into the net, with the Dutch winning 7-6[0] 6-7[6] 6-3.
As a result, the Netherlands and the USA progress from Group D, and GB will endeavour to end a disappointing tournament on a high against Kazakhstan on Sunday.
Ben Knapton
