Davis Cup descends into 3 v 1 FARCE: France send out THREE players to face Dan Evans
THE Davis Cup descended into farce yesterday - as Brit Dan Evans was forced to play against THREE Frenchmen.
France put three players against one during Davis Cup tie
Britain had already lost the tie 3-0 when Evans stepped out on court to meet Julien Benneteau.
He took the first set 6-1 and was ahead early in the second when France got sneaky.
They jokingly sent Benneteau’s doubles partner Nicolas Mahut out on court too to take on Evans, whose response was to hit a sizzling backhand winner.
Not content with two, France captain Yannick Noah took matters into his own hands by going out there himself.
Noah, who won the French Open back in 1983, is now 56 and took a spot at the net.
Evans, feeling hard doneby, called for Jamie MacDonald – the regular supporter who organises Stirling University’s group of travelling fans – on to court.
But it was blocked by kill-joy ref Soren Friemel, who ruled only those involved in the tie should be admitted on court.
Evans joked afterwards: "For sure, the referee should have let Jamie on - it was not as if I picked out a random [person].”
Once it went back to one against one, Evans took a 6-1 6-2 in - just his second win ever on clay.
Kyle Edmund lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jeremy Chardy in the final rubber as France rounded off a 4-1 win.
Benneteau, a substitute for Lucas Pouille, is better known these days as a doubles player and at 113 in the world in singles is only the French number 13. Chardy, ranked 68 and a surprise pick for the tie, is the French number nine.
Such depth is something GB captain Leon Smith can only dream of and this tie exposed the fact that resources below Andy Murray remain thin at the top level.
"The big difference in our nation compared to the big hitters is someone like France who have 19 in the top 200," said Smith.
"We've got four in the top 100 and then that's it. This is a great team but it would be nice to have players who are joining these guys on tour, sitting around 75, even 125, 150.
"It just means you've got more of a conveyor belt coming through. Do I think it's round the corner? Maybe with a couple of them but there's certainly not a conveyor belt.
"That's something that continually needs addressing. Is it down to performance teams, our club culture? You can keep going, it's an endless debate. But the bottom line is it would be nice to have more depth."
The exhibition nature of the Evans-Benneteau contest certainly kept the fans entertained, with the stands at the Kindarena remarkably full considering there was nothing at stake.
For Evans it was another chance to learn his trade on clay, a surface he had studiously avoided since 2014, albeit against an opponent who appeared to have enjoyed France's celebrations a little too much.
With his ranking earning him a place in the biggest tournaments, Evans knows avoiding clay no longer makes sense, but he goes into the swing of Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and the French Open unsure of what to expect.
He said: "It's still a work in progress. I might not even win a match until the last week or I might win two the first week and then none the rest of the time. I just have to keep being positive on it.
"One day's good, one day's bad. Against Chardy (a 6-2 6-3 6-3 loss on Friday) I hardly hit the ball because he was hitting it by me. It's different tennis, I have to learn how to play on it. It's hard. The main thing is to come out of it ready for the grass."