Dan Evans shows his anguish during his match against Laurynas Grigelis of Lithuania in the Davis Cup.
British tennis sunk to a new low today with defeat by Lithuania in the Davis Cup.After James Ward's defeat by Ricardas Berankis earlier today, the result came down to the last singles rubber between Dan Evans and Laurynas Grigelis, a player ranked 269 places below the Birmingham teenager at 521 in the world and who has never played a match on the ATP World Tour.Evans recovered from a dreadful third set to force a decider but it was not enough as the 18-year-old Grigelis won 6-7, 7-5, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4.Lithuania, with only three world-ranked singles players and a team made up entirely of teenagers, were ecstatic at the most famous result in their history.The British captain John Lloyd, meanwhile, was left to contemplate humiliation and his future in the role after becoming the first GB captain to oversee five successive defeats.Britain must now beat Turkey, who lost to Ireland this weekend, in a relegation play-off in July to avoid dropping to Europe/Africa Zone Group III – the lowest tier of the competition.
