Experienced campaigner Dan Evans and Davis Cup rookie Billy Harris score key singles wins to hand Britain a 2-0 win over Finland in Wednesday’s Group D play in Manchester.

Evans began the day as he defeated No. 703 Eero Vasa 7-6 (3) 6-2 before British neophyte Harris put the tie out of reach with his 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Otto Virtanen.

The No. 101 Harris, a summer Eastbourne semi-finalist, could not believe his accomplishment on his Davis debut.

“This has just topped it for me. We play week in, week out for ourselves and the first time playing for my country and a great start,” he said.

“When it was tight, the crowd getting behind me there made a big difference so thank you all.”

Harris said he had to battle to overcome Virtanen: “He’s a very aggressive player. I knew he would serve big so it was just a matter of getting the return in as much as possible and taking the chances when they came.”

British captain Leon Smith is resting US open semi-finalist Jack Draper after only arriving from New York on Tuesday.

Britain still face ties in the round-robin event against Argentina and Canada later in the week.

Lorenzo Musetti continued his hot streak on grass, with the Italian dumping out Taylor Fritz in a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 comeback on Wednesday to book into his first Wimbledon semi-final.

The Italian came to the major riding a wave of momentum after finishing runner-up at Queen’s Club a week after playing a Stuttgart semi-final on grass.

Musetti will play for a finals spot against Novak Djokovic, whose path was eased considerably when quarter-final opponent Alex de Minaur was forced to withdraw with a hip muscle tear.

The injury occurred in the closing moment’s of ninth seed de Minaur’s fourth-round Monday win over Arthur Fils, when he felt a loud crack as he slid for a forehand.

Scans on Tuesday were not encouraging, with doctors predicting a three to six-week recovery.

“I’ve been struggling to sleep the last couple of days, I feel it (pain) walking,” de MInaur said.

“I was just hoping that I would wake up and feel it a little bit less or feel it to a point where I can at least go on court. 

“But it’s almost disrespectful for me to not go on the court close to 100 per cent against someone like Novak.

“There’s no point in me going out there if I’m not going out there to try and win.”

He added: “It’s quite a unique injury. I’m hoping the pain goes down with a bit of rest, and then ultimately it’s kind of working against the clock to get back as soon as possible.”

Against Fritz, Musetti profitted from more than 50 unforced errors off the racquet of the American who had lifted a third career title at Eastbourne, and came to the quarter-final after winning his previous eight matches.

Musetti fought back after dropping the opening set and swept the next two as he put himself into winning position.

The Italian missed a break point chance at 2-all in the fourth set and paid the price as Fritz squared the match at two sets each after three hours on court.

Musetti, fourth Italian to reach the semis here, ran away with the fifth to set up his date against Djokovi, pounding over a service winner on his first match point after three and a half hours.

“I don’t realise yet what I’ve done,” the 22-year-old winner said. “I had never played on the big stage (courts) at Wimbledon; I played a fantastic match.

“I’m really, really happy to be in my first semi-final here. I probably did not have the best start but I kept the best for the end.

“My attitude changed at the start of the second set, I hope I’m gonna have that attitude on Friday when I play Djokovic.

“I expect a big fight with him, I’m an ambitious guy and I like a challenge.

“I’ll give my 100 per cent and let’s see what happens.”

Main photo:- Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd

A trio of British hopes crashed and burned within hours of each other at Eastbourne on Thursday as the fever dream of home success was ended by three quarter-final defeats.

The 168th-ranked Emma Raducanu, national No. 1 Katie Boulter and outsider Harriet Dart all met their ends on the grass at Devonshire Park without winning a set between them.

Former US Open winner Raducanu’s 6-2, 6-2 thrashing by Daria Kastakina was the most high profile of the trio of losses.

Boulter went down to Roland Garros finalist Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 7-6 (0) while No. 105 Dart was sent packing by former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-1 in 69 minutes to start off the day of defeat.

Raducanu’s loss came a day after her first career defeat of a Top 10 opponent as she stunned world No. 5 Jessca Pegula in three sets.

Raducanu and Boulter had been headed for a possible all-British semi-final at Eastbourne before reality stepped in.

London suburbanite Raducanu went down with 29 unforced errors while Kasatkina hit 18 winners.

“I was trying to be in control of myself, because the conditions were very tough,” the winner said. 

“It’s very difficult to do some nice things. You have to play and try to win as many points as you can, try to put as many balls as you can inside the court, and I think I did this pretty good today.”