Great Britain made the perfect start to their Davis Cup quarter-final as Dan Evans thrashed Germany's Peter Gojowczyk in the opening rubber.

The British number two continued to dominate and sealed a 6-2 6-1 win.

His victory means Cameron Norrie will secure Britain's spot in the last four if he beats Jan-Lennard Struff.

Britain, without the resting Andy Murray, are aiming to reach the semi-finals at the 18-team Davis Cup Finals for the second successive edition.

At the inaugural event in 2019, Britain beat Germany in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champions Spain in the self-styled 'World Cup of Tennis'.

If British number one Norrie loses to Struff, who is ranked 39 places below him at 51st in the world, the tie will go down to a deciding doubles match in the best-of-three rubbers format.

Britain's Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, who are ranked third and 20th in the world respectively, are set to face German pair Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

Two-time French Open champion Krawietz has played alongside Puetz in the absence of injured regular partner Andreas Mies, with the pair winning both their matches in the Davis Cup Finals.

Whoever wins this tie - which is being played behind closed doors in the Austrian city because of coronavirus restrictions - will face either the Russian Tennis Federation or Sweden, who play in the last quarter-final on Thursday.

That semi-final would take place in Madrid on Saturday, with Sunday's final also in the Spanish capital.

Evans triumphs after 'some of best tennis this year'

There is still a long way for Britain to go against Germany in what has long been an unpredictable competition.

But Evans, who won and lost in his two group matches against France and the Czech Republic, has set the platform for the rest of the British team.

"That was some of the best tennis I played all year. I didn't feel good this morning so it has been nice to come and get out a win for the team," he said.

The world number 25 conceded just six points on serve in an almost flawless opening set, while a nervy Gojowczyk - who was handed his first Davis Cup appearance in seven years ahead of Dominik Koepfer - started with four double faults in his first two service games and ended up with 14 unforced errors in the first set.

After settling somewhat in the latter part of the opener, the tension reappeared for Gojowczyk in the first game of the second set. Another double fault handed over a break to Evans.

Evans continued to play at a high level to which Gojowczyk had no answer, dominating in all areas to seal victory in 55 minutes when the German ended with another double fault.