Nice Britain have been drawn to play Novak Djokovic’s Serbia within the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup in Malaga.
The knockout stage of the competitors, which GB final gained in 2015, shall be performed between 21 and 26 November.
Dan Evans and Neal Skupski needed to save 4 match factors to beat France in a decisive doubles match in Manchester on Sunday to qualify for the final eight.
Djokovic, who gained with Serbia in 2010, says the competitors is his high precedence for the remainder of the season.
However the ties would be the best-of-three matches, and Serbia would not have another singles gamers within the high 30.
“We have topped this group so we anticipate to get a kinder draw within the quarter-finals however it’s not panned out that means,” Nice Britain captain Leon Smith instructed BBC Sport.
“However you recognize what, we should be there – and we have an opportunity towards anybody. It would not matter if Novak performs for Serbia, or the rest. You have to win two [singles] rubbers and a doubles and that is what we have proved to be good at.”
The winners will play both Italy or the Netherlands within the semi-finals, with Italy capable of name on world quantity seven Jannik Sinner and top-20 participant Lorenzo Musetti.
Hosts Spain shall be absent from the Ultimate Eight after failing to make it out of Group C, whereas 32-time champions america additionally miss out after dropping to Finland of their remaining Group D tie.
Within the high half of the draw, Canada will proceed their title defence towards the Finns, who’re making their debut within the quarter-finals, whereas final 12 months’s runners-up Australia will play the Czech Republic.
Will GB make adjustments to group?
The make-up of the Nice Britain group for Malaga might show considered one of Smith’s trickier choices.
The schedule for the week is but to be confirmed however it appears greater than seemingly GB’s quarter-final shall be performed on the Thursday to permit 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Djokovic extra time to recuperate from the earlier week’s ATP Finals in Turin.
Which means that had been GB to make it to Sunday’s remaining, they must play three ties in 4 days. Unimaginable although Evans was in successful two matches stretching over almost 5 hours in Manchester on Sunday, asking him repeatedly to play two matches a day in such a small timeframe would appear each unrealistic and unwise.
His partnership with Skupski may be very a lot the very best doubles pairing of the group Smith chosen for the group stage. Skupski and Andy Murray have by no means performed collectively on tour or in Davis Cup, and Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper are unlikely to be thought of for doubles. So until Evans turns into a specialist doubles participant for the week, one other card-carrying member of the doubles tour might have to exchange one of many singles gamers within the group.
The 2 names that spring to thoughts are Joe Salisbury and Jamie Murray.
Salisbury is the world quantity six and has gained the US Open males’s doubles title with Rajeev Ram in every of the final three years. He has gained two ATP titles with Skupski, however the pair should have painful reminiscences of the 2021 Davis Cup quarter-final defeat by Germany, by which they misplaced seven factors in a row from 5-0 up within the second-set tie-break.
Salisbury has gained simply two of his six Davis Cup matches thus far, however might doubtlessly additionally play with Andy Murray. They did lose each their matches within the group stage of the Finals in Glasgow final 12 months, however appeared a greater partnership on the Tokyo Olympics earlier than dropping a decent quarter-final.
Jamie Murray is an attention-grabbing possibility. He has not performed Davis Cup for 4 years, however he and Michael Venus are in rivalry to succeed in the ATP Finals because the winners of three titles this 12 months. He performed on tour with Skupski for an 18-month interval and although it was not a runaway success, they nonetheless gained a title, contested two different finals and a US Open semi-final.
And after they performed collectively within the Davis Cup Finals of 2021, they gained their first two matches after which pushed Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez shut in a semi-final which occurred in Madrid.
And the way about Andy and Jamie taking part in collectively for his or her nation one final time? It’s a tantalising thought, however assumes Andy would nonetheless be chosen within the occasion of a singles participant making means for a doubles specialist.
Evans and Skupski seem sure to be chosen, so who may miss out in that state of affairs?
The explosive youth of Draper, who gained that essential match with Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis on his debut final week; Norrie, who has been comfortably the British primary for almost two years now; or Murray, a Davis Cup winner with solely three defeats within the 36 singles matches he has performed for his nation?
There may be numerous tennis to be performed in Asia and on the European indoor circuit earlier than Leon Smith has to finalise his group. The preliminary choice should be made by 23 October, however as much as three adjustments are permitted till the eve of the knockout stage, and September’s kind guide could also be out of print by November.
