Great Britain fought manfully to keep the defence of their Davis Cup title going, but could not quite pull off the comeback against Argentina, in Glasgow, yesterday.

Trailing 2-0 on Friday after defeats for Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund, the chances of Leon Smith’s team reaching a second successive final looked very slim indeed.

But the Murray brothers won the doubles rubber on Saturday and Andy defied a leg injury to defeat Guido Pella 6-3 6-2 6-3 in the opening match yesterday.

That meant the tie came down to a clash between Dan Evans and Leonardo Mayer, and it was the Argentinian who prevailed 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.

Evans would have expected to face Juan Martin del Potro, conqueror of Murray in five hours on Friday, but the former US Open champion hinted on Saturday he was not prepared to risk his fragile body.

Del Potro has twice spent long periods on the sidelines because of wrist problems, only returning from nearly two years out in February. It made the decision to play him alongside Mayer in the doubles, a rubber they were never favourites to win, even less fathomable.

In the end, it was not a situation Argentina were made to regret as Mayer, a player ranked a lowly 114, produced a powerful and impressive performance to send his country through to a final clash with Croatia in November.

Super serve

Marin Cilic sent Croatia into the cup showdown with a 6-3 6-2 7-5 victory against Richard Gasquet that gave the hosts a 3-2 win over France.

The world number 11 relied on his big serve and his booming forehand to down Gasquet, who had given France the first point by beating Borna Coric in the opener on Friday.

Cilic levelled the tie on Friday when he saw off Lucas Pouille and he paired up with Ivan Dodig to give Croatia the lead with their win in the doubles against Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Saturday.

Pouille beat Marin Draganja 6-4 6-4 in the final match with nothing at stake.

“We played so many ties away, we had been waiting to play at home and now we just won in front of our home crowd it’s amazing,” said Croatia captain Zeljko Krajan.

“Marin Cilic was our leader all the way in this semi-final against France, he won everything despite the pressure that was on his shoulders.”

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