Daniel Evans has given Great Britain an ATP Cup pulse, upsetting Belgium’s world No.11 David Goffin to at least delay their fate in Sydney.
The Brits, having lost to Bulgaria to begin the inaugural men’s team tennis tournament on Friday, fell further into a hole with Cameron Norrie’s 6-2 6-4 loss to Steve Darcis on Sunday.
But needing victory to extend their must-win tie to a live doubles decider, world No.42 Evans responded with a 6-4 6-4 win.
The two best-performed second placed teams from the six groups spread across Sydney, Brisbane and Perth will join the six group winners in the quarter-finals in Sydney.
It leaves Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury needing a win later on Sunday to keep Great Britain in the reckoning for a finals berth.
Earlier in Sydney, Grigor Dimitrov helped edge Bulgaria a step closer to the finals after his straight sets win over Radu Albot secured the tie for his country.
The world No.20 looked in fine touch, registering a 6-2 6-3 win over the Moldovan.
While it was a cooler day in Sydney following Saturday’s scorching 45C heat, the the winds brought with it bushfire smoke haze and dust which impacted Ken Rosewall Arena despite its new roof.
Dimitar Kuzmanov gave Bulgaria the perfect start with a 6-1 7-5 win over Alexander Cozbinov.
Moldova picked up a rubber when Albot teamed with Cozbinov to beat Dimitrov and Alexandar Lazarov 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
The victory leaves the Bulgarians at 2-0 for the competition along with Australia who downed Canada 3-0 in Group F.
Bulgaria will face the Goffin-led Belgium on Tuesday night, with a win securing the top place in Pool C and a spot in the last eight.
In Perth, the Italy-Norway Group D rubber went down to the wire with the Italians claiming a 2-1 victory in the tie to stay in with a chance of making the finals.
Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini captured the deciding doubles clash 6-3 7-6 (7-3) over Casper Ruud and Viktor Durasovic.
It had come after the countries had split their singles.
Stefano Travaglia eased past Durasovic 6-1 6-1 while Ruud continued his sparkling form with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of world No.12 Fognini.
Ruud had taken down John Isner in Norway’s opening round robin win over USA.
Italy and Norway are both 1-1 in Group D but will be up against it to usurp the strong Russian team for top spot.