DEBUTANT James Ward and team-mate Dan Evans enjoyed contrasting fortunes as Great Britain and Lithuania shared the points on the opening day of their Davis Cup clash.

Ward, the 23-year-old son of a London cabbie, cruised to a 6- 4 6-2 6-4 victory over Lithuanian No 2 Laurynas Grigelis to give Britain the perfect start to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie in Vilnius.

It was the first win in a live rubber for Britain by anyone other than Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski or Andy Murray in 13 years, and was just what was required by his side as they attempted to stave off an embarrassing defeat.

However, Evans was unable to keep the momentum going as he went down 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 3-6 6-3 in his first five-set match to former world junior champion Ricardas Berankis to leave the tie finely balanced going into today’s doubles.

Ward was at least able to celebrate his own achievement after what proved a comfortable victory.

He told www.lta.org.uk: ‘‘It was a big win. Obviously your first Davis Cup match is always a big win, and I’m glad I got through it.

‘‘He had played Davis Cup before but I’m confident in my own ability and I’m serving well, which on a fast court like this is tough to break at any time, so I’m very happy.’’ Ward got the campaign off to the perfect start, breaking in the ninth game of the first set and, despite a struggle, closing it out.

He repeated the feat in the opening game of the second and never looked back.

Although Grigelis kept pace in the early stages of the third set, he could not hold out as the Briton converted a break point in the seventh game before serving out the match.

Looking to establish a 2-0 lead, Evans found himself under pressure almost from the off, losing his second and third service games as Berankis surged into a 4-1 lead.

The Lithuanian was barely tested as he claimed the first set courtesy of a third successive break.

However, the fightback started when Evans held his first service game of the second set then broke immediately, and a second break allowed him to serve for the set at 5-2.

But, having squandered three set points, he served a double fault to hand Berankis the game and a chance to redeem himself.

However, Evans fought back from 0-40 in his next service game to eventually take the set – his first in Davis Cup after two straight-sets losses on his debut against Poland last year.

He made an early push in the third set with the score at 2-2, breaking his opponent to love, but he surrendered his advantage in the very next game.