Team England seal victory at Battle of the Brits
• 3 MINUTE READ
Team England finished as winners at the Schroders Battle of the Brits after defeating Team Scotland 8-4 at the P&J Arena in Aberdeen.
Led by British No.2 Dan Evans and captain Ian Holloway, the English team stormed to victory thanks to three key victories on day two.
"It was awesome,” said Tournament Director Jamie Murray after an action-packed two days in Aberdeen.
“We'd a great two days; three amazing sessions. It was so much fun to come and play in Scotland and to finish off the event with Andy was really special. It's been a lot of work for two years. Everything was set up to go last year and we had to cancel at the last minute. We really appreciate all the guys making the effort to come and play and make it really special for us."
The action kick started on Wednesday with Team England taking an early lead thanks to a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 for Evans against 22-year-old Glasgow native, Aidan McHugh.
Then it was over to Andy Murray and Jack Draper for one of the most anticipated ties of the event. After an electric start from Murray, Draper came back firing in the second set, tying up the scores at one set each and seemingly taking all momentum as he took a 6-3 lead in the deciding match tie-break. The former world No.1, however, had other ideas, rolling back the years to produce a vintage Murray comeback and edge a 6-2, 1-6, 12-10 win on his third time of asking, thanks to a seemingly impossible forehand winner down the line.
With the scores locked in at 1-1 coming into day two, everything was on the line as the first of the doubles match-ups got underway. Team England’s Neal Skupski and Paul Jubb survived a potential comeback from Jamie Murray and partner Jonny O’Mara, to clinch a 6-4, 5-7, 10-6 victory and with it, two points for their team.
The match was soon put beyond doubt as the English team took both singles rubbers to storm out of sight to an 8-1 lead. Evans cemented his 100% singles record with a devastating 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 win over three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, before Jubb cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory against McHugh.
Team Scotland did finish on a high however, with the Murray brothers teaming up to close out the event in style – beating Skupski and Evans 6-3, 6-4.
