Oh lovely, that.

Evans comes into the net and plays a sumptuous backhand inch perfect to the corner. De Minaur pings one wide then long and that brings up two break points for Evans.

Deep breath from the Australian, this has been tough going so far.

Nick Lester
British former tennis player on BBC TV

What a start. Dan Evans looks so sharp after the initial danger in the opening game. Drop serve there and it can sometimes set the tone for the rest of the set.

And an ace to seal it. Evans is off to a flying start in Manchester and holds to 15.

Evans looking in touch, De Minaur yet to get going.

In the first match it was chants of 'super Jacky Draper' now it's 'super Danny Evans'.

It's been a really good start from the Brit, who for hammers down a big serve for 40-15.

What a start for Evans.

A few mistakes from De Minaur and after that difficult opening service game Evans is in early control as he breaks to love.

Lovely slice backhand from Evans then De Minaur sails one long before Evans sneaks a brilliant forehand down the line.

Evans thrives on a crowd behind him and a bit of passion and he has three break points here.

Some long rallies to entertain the Manchester crowd in these early stages and Evans, after having to save two break points in his opening game, eventually secures the hold.

A big roar from the Brit.

Evans saves the first break point but De Minaur quickly has another one.

This time the Australian fires into the net for deuce.

Evans not looking overly comfortable in these early stages. A bit fidgety and keeps looking up into the crowd, is the trumpet already doing his head in?

Already De Minaur has him under pressure as he skews one wide.

Evans not happy with his racquet early doors as he heads over to get a fresh one at 15-30 in his opening service game.

It has the desired effect to begin with as the Brit draws level at 30-30.

Right then, Jack Draper got Great Britain off to a winning start, can Dan Evans make it two from two?

Away we go.

Image source, Getty Images

Australian Alex de Minaur speaking to BBC:

"I've been playing some great tennis so happy with that - looking forward to hopefully being able to bring that level here - very exciting, looking forward to it.

"We have a lot of motivation in the group, we've shown what we can do when we stick together and we have each other's backs. We have a tough group so we'll see how it goes but we'll make sure to give it our all.

"All the boys are really up for it, it's going to be a battle but we're up for it. We'll go out swinging and give it everything we have."

Colin Fleming
Former British tennis player on BBC TV

Evans and De Minaur have played twice at Tour level and Evans has won on both occasions in tight matches and they've played once in a Nottingham Challenger event and De Minaur won on that occasion.

De Minaur is coming in on a career high ranking of 12th in the world and was a finalist at the Toronto Masters series.

Both players had a pretty positive US Open I think it's fair to say. It would be a very good win for Evans if he was to get it so I think De Minaur is probably slight favourite.

Image source, Getty Images

The stand out player in Australia's team this year is world number 12 Alex de Minaur and the 24-year-old may be a familiar face to fans of British tennis as his partner, Katie Boulter, is the current British number one.

He said he's looking forward to continuing the age-old sporting rivalry between Great Britain and Australia and will be looking for bragging rights over Boulter this week.

"There's years and years of history of rivalry between the two nations," he said.

"With Katie, I've got to spend a little bit more time here in the UK and I've been able to get to know a couple of the Brits a little bit better.

"It's always a great competitive spirit between us," he added.

"Katie's shown me around. I've found a lot of spots that I quite enjoy so it's been great, especially when the weather's good. There's a lot of similarities with Australia."

Come on Dan, you've got two matches to play. Wakey wakey.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

It has been a tight turn around for these players with the US Open coming to a conclusion just days ago.

Dan Evans was knocked out by Carlos Alcaraz in the third round while Alex de Minaur fell in the fourth round to eventual finalist Daniil Medvedev.

Hopefully both have managed a few good nights sleep since then.

British number two Evans has had a strange season after struggling for victories either side of winning the biggest title of his career in Washington last month.

He said after his exit at Flushing Meadows that his tennis is in a "good spot", can he continue that run of form today?

Image source, Getty Images

Right then, up next it's British number two Dan Evans against Australian world number 12 Alex de Minaur.

It's set to be a busy afternoon for Evans who will play his singles match before partnering up with Wimbledon champion Neal Skupski for the doubles match against Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden.

Busy bee.

Image source, Getty Images

Jack Draper speaking to BBC after beating Thanasi Kokkinakis in three sets: "I probably wasn't as nervous as you guys. Thank you so much, you got me over the line there, it was not an easy match. It was a real battle, there's an amazing crowd in here. It was amazing to play my first Davis Cup tie here and I'm so happy Leon trusted me and put me out here today."

"I'm playing for my country so I had to put everything out on the line. It's amazing to come out and get the win, but we've still got work to do."

On being a Man Utd fan: "I'm a Manchester United fan. I think they're [the team] staying in our hotel on Friday night so I'll have to give them a pep talk.

"We're dialled in this week, we're pumped up and lets all get behind Dan in the next match."

Image source, Getty Images

Over in Split, American Mackenzie McDonald has beaten Croatian Dino Prizmic 6-4 6-2 in the first match of the day to give the USA a 1-0 lead. Up next is world number 11 Frances Tiafoe against world number 77 Borna Gojo.

The Czech Republic's Thomas Machac has also secured a comfortable 6-4 6-4 victory over Spain's Bernabe Zapata Miralles with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain and Czech Jiri Lehecka up next.

Still playing the first match in Bologna where Canadian Alexis Galarneau took the first set after a monster tie-break against Italian Lorenzo Sonego finished 10-8. World number 38 Sonego has just been broken in the fifth game of the second set and this would be quite a victory for Galarneau, ranked 200th in the world.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport at Manchester Arena

Bullseye!! Jack Draper celebrates his win by staring down the camera and throw an imaginary dart at it.

Draper was asked to step on to the oche by Leon Smith and boy has he delivered.

After shaking hands with Kokkinakis, Draper does the same with the Aussie team and then hugs everyone on the British bench.

I make that 16 hugs.