Dan Evans out of Great Britain’s Davis Cup Finals clash with Novak Djokovic’s Serbia with calf injury

Dan Evans has been forced to withdraw from the Davis Cup Finals after picking up a calf injury at the Vienna Open.

Great Britain are set to face Serbia in the quarter-finals in Malaga next month but will do so without the 33-year-old.

Team GB captain Leon Smith had named an unchanged side of Cameron Norrie, Andy Murray, Jack Draper, Neal Skupski and Evans to take on Novak Djokovic’s Serbia from November 21 to 26.

“Unfortunately, as a result of the injury sustained in Vienna, I will not be fit to compete at the Davis Cup Finals in a couple of weeks,” Evans wrote on social media.

“I am extremely disappointed but wish the rest of the GB team all the very best in Malaga.

“I will be working hard with my support team to get back to full fitness as soon as possible.”

Evans was instrumental in helping Great Britain reach the knockout stage of the competition. He and Skupski survived four match points before prevailing in a decider against France in Manchester last month.

British No. 1 Norrie admitted Evans’ withdrawal was a “huge blow” to Great Britain’s hopes.

Norrie, who suffered a mid-season loss of form, pulled out of the Paris Masters in a bid to “be fresh” to take on Serbia for a place in the semi-finals.

“The season is very long and there’s no doubt it took its toll on me,” Norrie told reporters. “I’m the kind of guy who needs to fight through and it kind of caught up with me.

“I lost a lot of close matches at the end of the season. Looking back, when I have taken rest, I have come back stronger and better, and it has been a long season.

“After Wimbledon I took a few days off, but I haven’t had a period when I’ve had a week away from tennis in quite a while.

“I’m going to go to Monaco and get some rest, I will swim a lot and do lots of different things but there won’t be any tennis.”