Dan Evans says it doesn’t matter if Britain have to win “ugly” in their difficult Davis Cup qualifier against Colombia in Bogota.
Leon Smith’s side will face unpressured balls and an altitude of 2,566m as they try to secure a place in the September group stage.
“It’s about getting the win here. It doesn’t matter how, if it’s pretty or ugly,” said Britain’s number two Evans.
“You just need to get a point on the board and hopefully we can win.”
Evans, Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury have been selected for the 10-time GB winners, who will face clay on Friday and Saturday at the Pueblo Viejo Country Club.
Victory would confirm them as one of 16 nations in the group stage, from which eight teams would advance to November’s final in Malaga.
Captain Smith said the trip to Colombia was “without a doubt the most complicated encounter we could have had” – and that the pressure-free bullets needed to deal with the altitude were top of the list of reasons why the team arrived a week early to prepare.
“The ball is probably the main thing,” Smith said Thursday. “Using the ball without pressure is something players probably won’t use at any other time of the year.”
According to Skupski, “it was difficult to breathe” for the first two days at altitude.
But he added that the early arrival had given players “the best possible chance to adapt”, with players like British number one Norrie traveling directly from the Australian Open to Melbourne.
Evans, part of GB’s most recent triumph of 2015, faces a particularly intense few days as he plays two singles and one doubles matches, having said last year he was “a bit insulting” that he was not selected before for the last one.
World number 30 Evans kicks off the action on Friday when he takes on 253rd ranked Nicolas Mejia, followed by Norrie’s match against Nicolas Barrientos.
On Saturday, Evans joins forces with Skupski against former world number one doubles duo Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, before returning to action against Barrientos following Norrie’s draw with Mejia.
Conditions aside, the visitors are by far the strongest side on paper, with the only Colombian singles player in the top 250 – number 81 Daniel Elahi Galan – dropping out through injury.
Follow coverage of Great Britain’s qualifying match on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app from 20:00 GMT on Friday and 17:00 on Saturday.
How does the Davis Cup work?
Dubbed the “Men’s World Cup of Tennis”, a record 155 nations participated in the Davis Cup this year, with matches played in 60 countries.
Great Britain’s draw against Colombia is one of 11 qualifiers taking place this week.
Matches are played best-of-five rubbers, with each rubber decided in a best-of-three-sets format.
The 12 qualifiers will advance to the group stage, which will be held September 12-17 at four venues.
They will be joined by last year’s winners Canada and runners-up Australia, as well as two wildcards in Italy and Spain.
The 16 teams are split into four groups, with the top two from each advancing to the knockout finals in Malaga from November 21-26.
