Great Britain came out on top in a marathon encounter with France to advance to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup thanks to a spectacular 2-1 win over their Group B opponents in Manchester.
Leon Smith's team - who had already beaten Australia and Switzerland put one foot in the knockout stages - were on the verge of glory when Dan Evans defeated Arthur Fils in three sets, before Cameron Norrie sought to complete the job against Ugo Humbert.
However, the British number one lost a lengthy three-set battle to the Frenchman, leading to a winner-takes-all doubles encounter, in which Evans and Neal Skupski saved four match points to triumph in a mesmerising three-setter against Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
A magnificent week in Manchester had already seen Evans beat Australia's Alex de Minaur before a doubles success with Skupski against Switzerland, but the 33-year-old was pushed to the limit against a player 14 years his junior.
The 2004-born Fils ultimately could not hold out against his more experience foe, who won 3-6 6-3 6-4 in just over two hours thanks to a remarkable fightback, having been a set and a break down at one stage.
Following a third double fault, Evans lost his serve in the eighth game of the match before Fils held to love to see out the first set, and the 19-year-old broke Evans straight away in the second.
The British number two rallied from 3-1 down to win five games on the trot and force a decider, though, and Fils was the one fighting an uphill battle when Evans raced into a 2-0 lead.
The 33-year-old was unable to steer further clear, but Fils won just five more points on the Evans serve and made 17 unforced errors in the third set alone, as GB took the penultimate step towards Malaga.
However, on the back of a two-set beating at the hands of Stan Wawrinka, Norrie - who has had a season to forget - lost 6-7[5] 6-3 5-7 in two hours and 46 minutes, having succumbed to Humbert's serving masterclass.
The 25-year-old came up with a whopping 17 aces compared to just two for Norrie, who was also restricted to a mere 13 winners in front of the home crowd and could not recover from a 1-6 deficit in the first-set tie-breaker.
Norrie came out fighting in the second and broke Humbert's serve straight away to begin his quest for redemption, but he missed a chance to break the Frenchman in the decider and conceded defeat on a double fault.
The 28-year-old's loss left all the pressure on the shoulders of Evans and Skupski, whose contest with Mahut and Roger-Vasselin went on until nearly 10pm local time, but GB punched their ticket to Malaga thanks to an unforgettable 1-6 7-6[4] 7-6[6] victory.
Smith's duo were punished for 11 unforced errors during a disastrous first set, but Evans and Skupski dug deep in the second set and came good in the tie-breaker to prolong the tie late into the night.
In the 10th game of the third set, a double fault from Evans brought up three match points for France, but the hosts saved all three of them before missing a chance of their own to wrap up the win.
A nail-biting tie-breaker would ensue, where Evans and Skupski fought back from 4-2 down to spark joyous scenes in Manchester, and either Italy or Serbia will lie in wait for November's quarter-finals. body check tags ::
