By Tony Fairbairn
- Andy Murray believes Great Britain can win this year’s Davis Cup ahead of the group stages this week which take place in Manchester
- Group B: Great Britain, Australia, France, Switzerland
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – Andy Murray believes Great Britain can win the Davis Cup this year as the group stages take place this week in Manchester.
![]() |
---|
It’s that time of year again as the journey to determining this year’s Davis Cup winners starts this week. There are four groups of four with the top two teams qualifying for the final eight tournament in Malaga which will take place on the 21st-26th of November. The four groups will take place in four different locations with Bologna, Split and Valencia joining Manchester as group stage hosts.
Speaking of Manchester that is where Great Britain will begin their search for an 11th Davis Cup title as they face Australia, France and Switzerland in a strong group as the British team will look to avoid last year’s group stage exit. The team Leon Smith has picked to try and improve on last year is Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Andy Murray, Neal Skupski and late addition Jack Draper, who has been rewarded for his second week appearance at the US Open.
Ahead of the week in Manchester, Murray admitted that he told Smith not to pick him after his recent performances and believes the team can win the Davis Cup this year.
“I said [to captain Leon Smith], if I’m not needed, I completely get that. But, for whatever reason, he asked me to come and I said I would come,” Murray was quoted by The Independent.
“I’ve always loved playing Davis Cup and any event where you’re competing for your country. We have a great group of guys, I love being part of this team, we’ve got great staff as well. Everyone gets on extremely well. I do genuinely believe the team can win the event.
“That’s huge motivation to be a part of it. I want to help the team in any way I can, whether that’s on the court or off. We’ll see what happens.”
If Murray’s role is limited than Draper’s may not be as the Brit’s run to the last 16 of the US Open has meant that he is a late addition to the team.
The Brit spoke about how much of a boost the US Open was and how ready he is to make his return to the Davis Cup team.
“Obviously New York gave me a real boost after quite a tough season,” Draper told The Independent.
“When Leon asked me to join the guys I was really excited and wanted to be here. I haven’t been part of a Davis Cup group playing at home. It’s amazing to be part of this team and I’m very grateful for the selection and happy to be around these boys for sure.”
The recent form of Draper mixed with the quality and experience of the other team members has given Leon Smith some selection headaches heading into this week.
However Smith has only seen that as a positive as he expects a good performance from the team regardless of who plays.
“There are some good decision [to be made],” Smith told the Davis Cup website.
“It’s great what Jack did [at the US Open]. We’ve been waiting for him to be healthy and fit and competing for a while now. We know his quality, we’ve seen it before, he just had rotten luck for most of the year.
“He’s riding a wave right now which is really good. For him to join the other four is great. They’re all really experienced – both on the tour and importantly in Davis Cup. I’m just happy to have options across the three days of matches that we’ve got.”
![]() |
---|
Tough Group for Great Britain
Standing in Great Britain’s way of reaching the final eight in Malaga are Australia, France and Switzerland. First up for Leon Smith’s men is Australia who have taken a strong team to Manchester which is led by Alex De Minaur with Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis being the other singles competitors. Lleyton Hewitt has also picked former Wimbledon doubles champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell as their doubles team to take on Britain on Wednesday 13th of September.
On Friday 15th of September, Switzerland await with Stan Wawrinka leading the line-up for the 2015 champions. Wawrinka is joined by Dominic Stricker, Marc-Andrea Huesler, Leandro Riedi and Alexander Ritschard in what is a talented and experienced team in Manchester.
Finally Great Britain will face France to finish off the week on Sunday 17th of September with the French team having the in-form Adrian Mannarino at their disposal. Joining Mannarino are Ugo Humbert and the talented Arthur Fils with Grand Slam champions Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut completing the line-up.
Team Nominations
Great Britain
- Cameron Norrie
- Dan Evans
- Jack Draper
- Andy Murray
- Neal Skupski
- Captain: Leon Smith
Australia
- Alex De Minaur
- Jordan Thompson
- Thanasi Kokkinakis
- Matthew Ebden
- Max Purcell
- Captain: Lleyton Hewitt
France
- Adrian Mannarino
- Ugo Humbert
- Arthur Fils
- Pierre-Hughes Herbert
- Nicolas Mahut
- Captain: Sebastian Grosjean
Switzerland
- Stan Wawrinka
- Dominic Stricker
- Marc-Andrea Huesler
- Leandro Riedi
- Alexander Ritschard
- Captain: Severin Luthi
How to Watch/Follow Davis Cup Finals 2023
Live Stream | BBC Sport |
Live Scores | Tennis Scores Powered By TNNSLIVE |
![]() Sign up to PBLC for free to support ongoing contributions from Britwatch Sports |
---|
Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
---|---|
Soundcloud | |
YouTube | |
We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website |