New Budget Will Help UK Tennis

New tax rules announced in the Budget could make it easier for Britain to attract the world's top tennis stars.

Rafael Nadal will not play at the Aegon Championship at Queen's in 2012because of British laws stating he must pay tax on endorsement income.

But the Budget stated that training days will be taken into account when calculating the tax owed.

"I welcome the decision to include this in the Budget," said Lawn Tennis Association chief Roger Draper.

"I am pleased that the Government, like us, recognises that the existing rules on endorsement tax pose a serious risk to the status and growth of our major sporting events.

"We will study this change in more detail, but I would like to thank the Government, and particularly the Sports Minister, Hugh Robertson MP, and David Gauke MP, Treasury Minister, for taking the time to listen to our concerns, and also the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the ATP for working with us to find a resolution."

British number one Andy Murray is the only member of the top four who will play at Wimbledon warm-up event Queen's this year.

When announcing in October that he would not play at Queen's, 2008 winner Nadal said: "The truth is, in the UK you have a big regime for tax. It's not about the money for playing.

"They take from the sponsors, from Babolat, from Nike and from my watches. This is very difficult. I am playing in the UK and losing money.

"I did a lot more for the last four years, but it is more and more difficult to play in the UK."

The amendment could also boost organisers of the ATP World Tour Finals. London's O2 arena is hoping to hang on to the tournament for another five years when the contract ends next year.

GB FedCup Team Draw Sweden

Great Britain will travel to Sweden in April's World Group II play-offs after missing out on a home draw.

Captain Judy Murray led the team of Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson and Laura Robson through Euro/Africa Zone Group I two weeks ago.

Their reward is a trip to Sweden, seeded third of the four possible opponents for Britain, on 21-22 April.

The winners will earn promotion into World Group II - the second tier of the Fed Cup.

Sweden have two top-100 players in Johanna Larsson (62) and Sofia Arvidsson (74), but no-one else inside the world's top 500, while Baltacha (61) and Keothavong (89) are top-100 players, with Watson (109) and Robson (120) close behind.

In five previous meetings between the nations, Britain lead 3-2 overall, but Sweden have won on the last two occasions in 2007 and 2001.

Britain's women last played a home tie in 1993, when the team of Clare Wood, Julie Salmon, Monique Javer and Amanda Grunfeld defeated Turkey 3-0 in Nottingham.

For the last eight years they have competed in the gruelling Euro/Africa Zone Group I - a 15-team event played in a single location over four days with only two qualifying spots.

Victories over Portugal, Netherlands, hosts Israel and Austria in Eilat earlier this month gave Murray the perfect start to her Fed Cup captaincy.

Speaking afterwards, she told BBC Sport: "There are obviously some that we would rather play than others. I hope we get a home tie but I won't be too worried about the draw."

Evans Wins Vital Davis Match

Dan Evans kept his nerve to win the deciding rubber as Great Britain beat Slovakia 3-2 in their Davis Cup tie.

The 21-year-old beat Martin Klizan, who is ranked 156 places higher in the world, 6-1 6-1 4-6 3-6 6-3.

Earlier, James Ward lost 6-7 (9-11) 1-6 3-6 to Lukas Lacko to leave the Europe/Africa Group I tie level at 2-2.

But Evans's win gave coach Leon Smith a fifth successive Davis Cup triumph and set up April's second-round tie with Belgium in Glasgow.

"While Dan is the hero of this tie it's about the group," said Smith, who has been captain since July 2010. "I am so proud of the boys and backroom staff."

However, despite the victory, Smith admitted that world number four Andy Murray would be an automatic choice for the next tie should he be fit.

"We would welcome him [Murray] back at any time," he laughed. "But we want selection issues for the other places."

Evans, who had not won a Davis Cup rubber before this weekend, will have done his chances of playing in the tie against Belgium, at the Braehead Arena from 6-8 April, no harm by winning both of his singles matches.

The world number 276 broke Klizan in the opening game as he raced into a 5-0 first-set lead and he broke twice more in the second as he took charge of the match.

However, a double-fault in game nine of the third set gave Klizan a foothold in the match and the Slovakian took advantage.

Klizan broke again in the opening game of the fourth set as the momentum of the rubber shifted and the Slovakian set up a nervy decider.

Coach Smith intervened with a pep talk for Evans. He revealed: "At the start of the fifth we said clear it, get back on the front foot and play it on your terms."

The talk worked as the Birmingham youngster broke in the third game and held on to his serve before a Klizan double-fault at match point gifted him the rubber and tie.

Britain had led 2-1 overnight but their advantage was quickly erased by Lacko who avenged his defeat by Evans on Friday.

The Slovakian won a tight first set on a tie-break and stepped up through the gears, breaking Ward twice in both the second and third sets, to wrap up a comfortable victory.

GREAT BRITAIN v SLOVAKIA

Dan Evans beat Lukas Lacko 6-3 7-5 7-5

Martin Klizan beat James Ward 6-2 4-6 6-4 7-6

Colin Fleming & Ross Hutchins beat Filip Polasek & Michal Mertinak 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 0-6 6-3

Lukas Lacko beat James Ward 7-6 (11-9) 6-1 6-3

Dan Evans beat Martin Klizan 6-1 6-1 4-6 3-6 6-3

Evans Evens Davis Day One

Great Britain head into the second day of their Davis Cup tie with Slovakia on level terms after they were pegged back in the second rubber.

Dan Evans beat world number 65 Lukas Lacko in straight sets to give the hosts a dream start to the tie.

Evans, ranked 211 places below his opponent, saw off the Slovak number one with an impressive 6-3 7-5 7-5 win.

But Martin Klizan made it one rubber each after beating James Ward in the second Europe/Africa Group I match.

Britain are without world number four Andy Murray, who is missing the tie after picking up minor injuries in the Australian Open.

But Evans produced a gutsy display against Lacko to secure his first Davis Cup win in his fifth 

attempt.

The 21-year-old broke Lacko to go 6-5 ahead in a tight third set and then held his serve for victory in Glasgow.

It maintained his strong start to the season after he won a Futures tournament and qualified for the main draw at the ATP World Tour event in Croatia.

And Evans admitted he had surprised himself with the manner of his victory, saying: "It was good fun.

"To beat him in three straight wasn't what I thought would happen if I did win. I was confident before that I could win but not in such style.

"(Captain) Leon Smith was good on the chair. Even when I was a break up in the third and I lost my serve it was as if nothing had happened, he was positive all the way through."

Slovakia go into the second day all-square after Klizan clinched a 6-2 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory over Britain number two Ward.

Ward briefly looked capable of making it a perfect day when he levelled the game at one set each.

The third set went with serve until Ward missed a chance to break at 4-3 and was made to pay when Klizan reeled off three games in a row.

Ward moved 4-1 ahead in the fourth but played a sloppy game to allow Klizan back into it and it was the Slovakian who dominated the tie-break

GREAT BRITAIN v SLOVAKIA

Dan Evans beat Lukas Lacko 6-3 7-5 7-5

Martin Klizan beat James Ward 6-2 4-6 6-4 7-6

Colin Fleming & Ross Hutchins v Filip Polasek & Michal Mertinak (Saturday 1300 GMT)

James Ward v Lukas Lacko (Sunday 1300 GMT)

Dan Evans v Martin Klizan (Sunday following Ward v Lacko)

GB Fed Cup Win Over Portugal

Great Britain defeated Portugal 3-0 in their opening Fed Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group I match.

Anna Keothavong beat Maria Joao Koehler 6-3 6-4 before Elena Baltacha saw off Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-2 6-3 to seal the tie, being played in Israel.

Heather Watson and Laura Robson then defeated Koehler and Larcher de Brito 7-5 6-0 in their doubles match.

"Today was fantastic," said Judy Murray after her first match as captain. "We did not drop a set."

Great Britain take on the Dutch in their second group match on Thursday.

And Murray added: "We've got a tough one against the Netherlands but we've prepared well and we'll be ready."

Baltacha was pleased by the form shown both by herself and Keothavong.

She said: "We knew it wasn't going to be easy because the Portuguese girls have done well in the past.

"I think sometimes with girls at that level you're never too sure which one of them is going to turn up, as in you don't really know what kind of game they're going to bring. But Anne and I knew that we'd have to stick to our guns and get the job done which was the most important thing."

GB hope to qualify from the week-long Euro/Africa Group I competition in Israel.

The format sees 15 nations form four round-robin pools, played from Wednesday to Friday. The nations that finish top in each pool will go through to the promotion play-offs, which take place on Saturday.

The two winning teams will go through to the World Group II play-offs, while the bottom nations contest the relegation play-offs to decide which two teams are relegated to Euro/Africa Group II.

Baltacha, Keothavong, Watson and Robson

Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson and Laura Robson have been named in the Great Britain team for next month's Fed Cup tie in Israel.

The Europe/Africa Zone Group One event, which features 15 teams, takes place in Eilat from 1-4 February.

A top-two finish in the event would see GB progress to April's World Group II play-offs.

Judy Murray will captain the team for the first time since her appointment last month.

"Our team is an exciting mix of youth and experience," Murray said.

In addition to the selected quartet, world number 317 Tara Moore will travel as the reserve for an event that also features Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.

And Murray added: "In Elena and Anne we're lucky to have two established Tour players who are great competitors and so passionate about representing their country.

"With Heather, Laura and Tara, we have three young and very promising players who will bring a lot of energy to the team and will be looking to make their marks.

"Our goal is to progress through the group and, while we know this will be tough, if we play to our potential it is achievable."