Kyle Edmund gave Great Britain's Davis Cup team a winning start for the second day in a row with another impressive victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Andy Murray was once again left out for the quarter-final at Madrid's Caja Magica amid doubts about his fitness but he had plenty to cheer from the sidelines as Edmund produced a strong and composed performance to win 6-3 7-5.
The only disappointment was the size of the crowd, which appeared noticeably smaller than for Britain's two group matches – a concern Murray had raised ahead of the event.
The British fans who had stayed made a good noise, though, and Edmund responded in style.
At 36, Kohlschreiber's best days may be behind him but he remains a dangerous customer, particularly off his one-handed backhand, and he has been in good form here.
The German was a little wild in the first set and Edmund took advantage, securing the only break of serve in the sixth game.
The second was much tighter. Kohlschreiber became the first player this week to break the Edmund serve for 3-1 but a fine game from the Yorkshireman reduced the arrears straight away.
Edmund is known for his bulldozer forehand but it was his backhand doing a lot of the damage and another break for 6-5 set up a chance to serve for the match, which he took to love.
That set the stage for British number one Dan Evans, who kept his place ahead of Murray despite two defeats to lower-ranked players this week, to take on German number one Jan-Lennard Struff.
