Dan Evans narrowly lost to Tommy Paul to leave Great Britain trailing the United States 1-0 after the opening match of their Davis Cup group tie.
The British number two was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-4 in an absorbing encounter.
British number one Cameron Norrie faces Taylor Fritz in the second singles rubber before Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury team up in doubles.
A minute's silence was held at the start of the tie in Glasgow following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
British players are wearing black armbands or ribbons for their three ties this week.
The usual music at changeovers was absent as a mark of respect during the national period of mourning but that did not mean it was not noisy inside the arena, and Evans tried to feed off the chanting and drumming of the home crowd.
It was as close a contest as their world rankings suggested it would be, with the Briton ranked just four places higher than his American opponent at 25th in the world, and the pair traded breaks twice in the opening set of a quality match.
Evans then saved three set points when serving at 4-5, including one where he delivered a sublime backhand down the line, but eventually succumbed on the fourth when his shot went out.
The Briton, who frequently gestured to fans for encouragement which he immediately got from the packed Emirates Arena, broke in the fifth game of the second when Paul missed the line and Evans then lifted his level to take control.
Evans improved his serving levels in the second set - having won just 45% of first-serve points in the first he increased that to 89% in the second - and did not face a break point as he took the match into a deciding third set with a serve that Paul could only return wide.
The Briton went a break down in the third but fought back immediately and, while he saved two match points in the final game, he handed over victory on the third when he netted a backhand.
"There was nothing wrong with my tennis today," Evans told a news conference. "Well, there was everything right with it. I just didn't take my chances I think."
It means the hosts must win Wednesday's remaining singles and doubles matches to claim victory in the tie.
This is the first of three group ties that Great Britain will part in this week in Glasgow, with fixtures against the Netherlands coming up on Friday and against Kazakhstan on Sunday.
Each nation plays two singles matches and one doubles against their group opponents in a best-of-three sets format.
There are three other cities hosting groups this week as 16 nations chase spots in November's finals in Malaga. The top two from each group will qualify.
In Tuesday's opening Group D match, the Netherlands beat Kazakhstan 2-1.