Dan Evans swatted Peter Gojowczyk aside 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday to give Britain a 1-0 lead over Germany in their Davis Cup quarter-finals tie in Innsbruck.

World number 25 Evans won the first four games of the match and broke Gojowczyk five times to complete a convincing victory in just 55 minutes.

Britain, playing without brothers Andy and Jamie Murray, will qualify for the last four if 12th-ranked Cameron Norrie beats Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany’s top singles player in the absence of Alexander Zverev.

“I worked hard and that was the story of the match,” said Evans. “Probably the best tennis I played all year.”

Gojowczyk, ranked 86th, was given the nod ahead of Dominik Koepfer for the opening rubber but struggled badly on serve and double-faulted four times in two games as Evans raced into a 4-0 lead.

Evans broke three more times in a one-sided second set, rebounding well from a shock loss to Czech world number 143 Tomas Machac in the group stage on Sunday.

The winner between Britain and Germany will play Russia or Sweden in Madrid on Saturday for a place in the final.

Croatia became the first team to reach the semi-finals on Monday by defeating Italy 2-1.

Novak Djokovic’s Serbia take on Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.