Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has announced the four players who will join Andy Murray for their Davis Cup final clash against Belgium.
The task of selecting the players has been a tricky job for Smith after a series of good performances from the British players. Last week Kyle Edmund won his third Challenger in 2015 at the ATP Copa Fila Open in Argentina and Dan Evans claimed his first Challenger title for six years in America.
After a lengthy deliberation Smith has selected Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, Kyle Edmund, James Ward and Dominic Inglot for the final in Ghent, Belgium. The finalized team means that Dan Evans has missed out on a place. Speaking about his decision, Smith spoke of optimism as well as confidence ahead of the historic encounter.
“The team has had some incredible results this year, and we know that off the back of defeating the three other Grand Slam nations we carry great momentum going into the final, however we will not underestimate the challenge in front of us. The Belgian team is full of top 100 talent and they will push us all the way”. Smith said.
“While our team will be spearheaded by Andy, the other guys give us strong options in both the singles and the doubles positions. Jamie is having an outstanding year and is firmly established as a top 10 world ranked doubles player. He has played a key part in our ties this year with vital wins against both France and Australia partnering Andy.
Aljaz Bedene is not included in the team as he awaits an imminent response regarding his appeal to the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Bedene is currently ineligible to play for Great Britain because he has played for Slovenia in the past, however, he is arguing that this regulation came into effect after he applied to switch his nationality to Britain.
Leading up to the Davis Cup final Andy Murray has openly admitted that he is more focused on the Davis Cup Final than his performance in this week’s ATP World Tour Finals. Murray has spoken about the privilege he has of representing his country in the final of the tournament.
“To represent your country at the Davis Cup Final is a huge honor and will be a new experience for me and all of the team”. Murray said.
Great Britain has won the Davis Cup title nine times before, but their last was back in 1936. It is the first time that they have played in the final since 1978. In contrast Belgium has never won the title before and this year is the first time that they have reached the final since 1904.
The British Team 2015 performance at a glance
Andy Murray
Age – 29
Ranking- 2
2015 titles – 4 ATP Titles (including 2 Masters tournament)
Best Grand Slam performance – Runner-up at the Australian Open
Kyle Edmund
Age – 20
Ranking – 99
2015 titles – 3 ATP Challenger titles
Best Grand Slam performance – R2 French Open
James Ward
Age – 28
Ranking – 155
2015 titles – 1 ATP Challenger title
Best Grand Slam performance – R3 Wimbledon
Jamie Murray (doubles)
Age – 29
Ranking – 7
2015 titles – 2 ATP Doubles titles
Best Grand Slam doubles performance – Runner up at Wimbledon and the US Open
Dominic Inglot (doubles)
Age – 29
Ranking – 23
2015 titles – 1 ATP Doubles title
Best Grand Slam doubles performance – semifinals at the US Open
