Dan Evans produced an inspirational performance to lead Great Britain to a Davis Cup win over Slovakia at Braehead Arena.

James Ward’s defeat to Lukas Lacko had left the tie poised at 2-2 before Evans stepped up to beat Martin Klizan in a five-set thriller 6-1 6-1 4-6 3-6 6-3.

The atmosphere was tense before Birmingham-born Evans brought it to life with a stunning display in the opening set.

The Slovakian simply couldn’t find his rhythm and smashed his racket in frustration as he proved powerless to stop the Brit.

A short forehand allowed Evans to pick Klizan off and seal a two-set lead.

The third set was a tight affair with the 21-year-old often finding himself 0-30 down before rallying to hold his serve.

Klizan, ranked 120 in the world and 156 places above Evans, finally made the breakthrough at 4-4 to get the chance to serve for the third set.

And after a few scares the Bratislava-born player held his nerve to extend the match.

The momentum appeared to be in Klizan’s favour as Evans started making a number of errors on his backhand side. He broke the Brit in the opening game of the fourth set and went on to claim it 6-3.

It was a test to see who would blink first in the decider and it was Kilzan who double-faulted on match point to give Britain a memorable victory.

This was the second Davis Cup match which Evans has proved the decisive factor and bodes well in Andy Murray’s occasional absence from the British team.

Leon Smith’s men will now prepare for Belgium on April 6-8, a tie which will also be played at Braehead Arena.