Great Britain moved 2-1 up in their Davis Cup qualifying tie with Colombia courtesy of a two-set doubles win for Dan Evans and Neal Skupski.
Evans had been stunned by world number 253 Nicolas Mejia in his opening match on Friday, but Cameron Norrie levelled matters in routine fashion against Nicolas Barrientos.
Evans and doubles partner Skupski also cruised through their doubles battle with Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal, prevailing 6-4 6-4 at the Pueblo Viejo Country Club as GB took the lead for the first time in the best-of-five tie.
Producing strong play at the net from the off, Evans and Skupski broke in the very first game thanks to a double fault from Colombia, before holding to love to establish a two-game advantage.
GB missed another chance to break in the fourth game, but they remained relatively untroubled on serve throughout the rest of the first set, until Evans double-faulted in the first point of the 10th game.
Needing to break to stay in the first set, Farah and Cabal had a slight sense of renewed hope and went 30-0 up as Skupski netted, but GB brought up a set point before Evans double-faulted again at the worst time.
SCENES 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
— LTA (@the_LTA) February 4, 2023
That meant everything to @nealskupski & Dan Evans#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #DavisCup pic.twitter.com/a9vaIzulAS
However, the 32-year-old caught Cabal out with a neat volley as GB eventually took the first set, and the writing was seemingly on the wall for Colombia after the opening game of the second.
Evans and Skupski brought up a 40-0 lead on the Colombians' serve, and while the hosts managed to save two of those three break points, Farah sent a forehand long as GB went a set and a break up.
The Brits backed up that early break with a crucial hold and maintained their two-game lead with minimal difficulty, eventually bringing up a pair of match points in the sixth game.
Colombia survived both of them - with Skupski double-faulting on the second - but GB made no mistake on their third chance to wrap up the contest and move one match away from a place in the 2023 Davis Cup Finals.
Norrie could now seal victory for GB in the penultimate singles match versus Mejia, before Evans and Barrientos close the action in the fifth and final contest of the qualifier later on Saturday.
Ben Knapton
