Andy Murray in the first round of the 2021 US Open, New York, USA
Andy Murray in the first round of the 2021 US Open, New York, USA | (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Tennis | Battle of the Brits | Andy Murray leads Team Scotland into battle against Team England

By Tony Fairbairn

  • Battle of the Brits returns in Aberdeen as Team Scotland take on Team England in the two day event.
ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – Andy Murray will lead Team Scotland into battle against Team England which will be lead by Dan Evans.

 

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Battle of the Brits returns after a couple of years with a stellar line-up as Team Scotland takes on Team England in Aberdeen. Leading Team Scotland will be Andy Murray who is looking for some much needed match practice ahead of the 2023 season. Murray will be looking to break into the world’s top 30 before Wimbledon as he looks to be seeded for what may be his final time at SW19.

Joining Murray will be brother Jamie Murray who is also looking to improve next year after a disappointing season by his standards. Completing Team Scotland is another doubles specialist in the form of Jonny O’Mara. O’Mara will be looking to improve his ranking next season as he is currently ranked just inside the world’s top 100 and has mainly relied on Challenger tournaments in 2022.

There is also a place on Team Scotland for talented junior Aidan McHugh who reached a career high ranking of 298 in 2022 and will use the event in Aberdeen as a platform to get better and improve next season.

 

 

Facing Team Scotland will be Team England which is lead by British number two Dan Evans. Evans had one of the best seasons of his career in 2022 as he reached the Masters 1000 semi-final in Montreal and found himself on the verge of the world’s top 20. The Brit will hope to get even better in 2023 especially at the Grand Slams where Evans struggled the most last season.

Joining Evans will be rising star Jack Draper who reached his first Masters 1000 semi-final in Canada. Draper finds himself inside the world’s top 50 beating some of the best players in the world with the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas losing to the Brit in 2022. Draper will now look to improve his physical qualities and improve at Grand Slams with his power game set to cause problems in years to come.

Two of the best doubles players in the world also join Team England in the form of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski. Salisbury won the Nitto ATP Finals with Rajeev Ram as well as the US Open with the Brit remaining a consistent threat at the top of the doubles world rankings. While Skupski became part of the best doubles team in the world alongside Wesley Koolhof as they won seven titles in 2022 and next year the Brit looks to claim Grand Slam success.

Completing Team England is Paul Jubb who had a breakthrough year in 2022 claiming his maiden Challenger title in Bolivia. In addition the Brit proved he can test any player in the world as he pushed Nick Kyrgios to five sets at Wimbledon. Jubb will hope this event in Aberdeen will continue his development as he looks forward to better things in 2023.

 

This is the schedule for the event with play starting on Wednesday evening.

 

Wednesday 21st December

 

6:30pm

 

Aidan McHugh v Dan Evans

 

Andy Murray v Jack Draper

 

Thursday 22nd December

 

1pm

 

Jamie Murray/Jonny O’Mara v Joe Salisbury/Neal Skupski

 

Andy Murray v Dan Evans

 

6:30pm

 

Aidan McHugh v Paul Jubb

 

Andy Murray/Jamie Murray v Joe Salisbury/Neal Skupski

 

 

 

How to Watch/Follow Battle of the Brits

Live Stream BBC IPlayer

 

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