DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 30, 2021

Daniel Evans

Team Great Britain

Press Conference

D. EVANS/P. Gojowczyk

6-2, 6-1

Great Britain - 1

Germany - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said you weren't feeling so good this morning. Can you talk to us a little bit about that?

DANIEL EVANS: Say that again, sorry?

Q. You said you weren't feeling so good this morning. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, yeah, I practiced pretty poorly. I stayed out on the practice court a little longer. Yeah, just, you know, pressure, pressure situation today, you know. Got a bit, just a bit angry. I think Leon hit the nail on the head, it's sort of good to have a bit of an edge, days like today.

So, yeah, I probably stayed on the practice court a little longer than I normally would have and to get some more balls hit. Yeah, you know, it worked out in the end, yeah.

Q. He said he didn't sleep very well last night, but obviously he didn't start well and it didn't get much better. How difficult was it for you when he was dumping second serves halfway up the net to keep your focus and keep your level?

DANIEL EVANS: For me, it was just a matter of just keep going, keep going. You know, I was never thinking about the scoreline. I was always, you know, next point.

It's all about getting the win in the tie, and that's just every single one of us has to think next point, this point. That's what I was doing.

Then obviously it comes to the end of the match where obviously I know the score, and then I just have to keep doing my job and being solid. That's what it was about today. I did that pretty good. I mean, it doesn't matter how it comes.

Yeah, it's not his best match by any stretch, obviously, but I think I contributed a lot to that. I took on his second serve early. I made him hit the double faults. You know, I'm not stupid. I know he hadn't played Davis Cup for a little while, and I used that to my advantage, yeah.

Q. Do you think they selected him maybe partly to throw you off a bit? On paper, it seemed a bit baffling. I know he had maybe beaten you a couple of times. It was a long time ago when you hadn't been in the best form recently.

DANIEL EVANS: Maybe Dominik was hurt maybe, or maybe they thought, you know, I'd beat a left-hander, lost to a right-hander. We'll never know, I guess. I'm sure they had their reasons.

Yeah, this is sort of the beauty of this competition. I don't think it's particularly fair on the No. 2 that you can change it an hour before. I think it should go the night before, in my opinion. But that's my opinion. You know, you have to deal with those things.

Q. Can you just expand on that? So you literally thought you were playing Koepfer until an hour before? Do you think there should be a rule, unless it's actually like an injury sustained in practice...

DANIEL EVANS: Well, I don't ever know who I'm playing, but I think -- I mean, we want top quality tennis at No. 2, so why not -- I can't prepare to play two people, because I can only play two people. So I can't prepare, can't do all the stuff the night before.

We guessed it would be Koepfer, so I prepared to play Koepfer. But I can't do that twice over. I'll be up all night, which for quality of tennis for the event, I think it should be the night before.

But again, that's just my opinion, and I just think it would be a little better for preparation and stuff. But then, on the other side of it, it is pretty cool that you can sub somebody in and it is a different way to look at it. Depends which way you look at it.

Q. I know the tie isn't over, but I'm asking you in case it does finish with the British victory, a provisional question, but as a player, if you do have to sort of go to Madrid and change venues and stuff, how do you think that will work? What are the tricky adjustments for a player in doing that?

DANIEL EVANS: New surroundings, obviously. We'll take a little time. We would arrive tomorrow in plenty of time, so that is one good thing.

We'll be traveling tomorrow one way or another (smiling). Need to pack our bags.

No, I mean, it's part of the tournament, but I think it's Saturday we would play if we got through. I think that definitely gives us enough time to, yeah, to get ready if we got through obviously.

Q. Given that players don't normally kind of train against a lefty and then play a right-hander, tell us how that feels. Does that take some adjustment at all?

DANIEL EVANS: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, obviously I practiced with Liam this morning. Cam practiced with Colin Beecher.

Yeah, I mean, I set up to play a lefty. You know, that's obviously the beauty of this competition. At No. 2 you can have an hour to find out, and that's part of the competition, which is challenging, yeah, for No. 2.

Yeah, like I said before, there are some pros for it. In my eyes there is a few cons, as well. Today ended well, and it's nice to come through and get one on the board.

Q. It's obviously like a really disciplined performance today. Over the years, do you feel that you've gotten better at scenarios like this where you had a tough loss and then you kind of knuckled down and were more solid today without doing many elaborate things on the court? Do you think that's something you have always been able to do or something that's improved over the years?

DANIEL EVANS: I think that's what I was saying on my way over, that I didn't have much of a choice, because I felt pretty bad. I went back to basics, just played solid tennis, and the thing with tennis is some days you need to play unbelievably well and you lose, and then today I played solid tennis and really went easy.

It's just how it happens, and it's just a funny game like that. That's how that performance ended up. I was winning doing that, so I just carried on.

Q. On a similar note, do you feel like maybe the result was more the way he played than the way you played? Looked like you were playing brilliantly. Was that perhaps more to do with him?

DANIEL EVANS: No, I played myself into some really good form in that match. The longer it went, you know, I mean, 2-Love, second set, I had chance for 3-Love, missed a forehand by half the court, out.

It was a few little things, but that match there will give me a lot of confidence if we move forward and get a chance to get to play in Madrid.