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Britain's defeat of Lithuania : More than a loss?

By AjayTyagi (TennisEarth.com), Submitted On

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Great Britain suffered one of the most embarrassing Davis Cup losses in the recently played tie against a country like Lithuania which entered the competiton with just three world ranked players, who happened to be all teenagers.

In the absence of star player Andy Murray, the British team, under the Captaincy of John Lloyd, started well when James Ward won the opening day singles rubber. In the second rubber though, top ranked Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis took out Daniel Evans in a marathon 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 encounter.

Despite a 2-1 lead with the help of win in the doubles rubber where the British duo of Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski defeated the Lithuanian duo of Laurynas Grigelis and Dovydas Sakinis, the British team completely fell apart in the reverse singles.

Ricardas Berankis continued his magical run with a straight sets win over John Ward and Laurynas Gregelis emerged as a surprise winner over Daniel Evans when he struggled past the Briton in a gruelling 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 tussle to clinch the tie for the host nation.

This was Britain's fifth consecutive Davis Cup tie loss which raised serious concerns over the LTA's capabilities of developing the country's most prestigious tennis team.

"Five defeats in a row is unacceptable," said the LTA chief executive Roger Draper. "So I have asked the LTA player director, Steven Martens, to review last week's performance and result, and report back to me and the LTA main board as soon as possible."

"That review needs to be swift and decisive as it is clear some real improvements need to be made," added Draper.

Greg Rusedski, who has been roped in for the Captain's responsibility in the upcoming tie against Turkey, expressed his disappointment through the social networking site, Twitter - "Cannot believe we have lost to Lithuania in Davis Cup. Unbelievable."