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Britain are seeking their 10th Davis Cup win in all, but first since 1936 when Fred Perry ruled the roost.
The British team were at their strongest at the beginning of the 20th Century and shone again in the early 1930s.
Later, laughter echoed through near-empty Flanders Expo as they jostled for the microphone in a televised Davis Cup quiz.
Though it’s all about the team in this competition, both nations will be looking to their more experienced and illustrious names to help drive them to the title this weekend and inspire them to victory.
From January to July that year he could count his wins on the fingers of one hand as he recovered from a wrist injury.
The Davis Cup consists of five best-of-five-set matches – four singles rubbers and a doubles.
However, the simple fact is that Murray roared Britain through each round, and without him our Davis Cup dream would be exactly that, a small flickering of an idea we might consider in the midst of a deep fantasy. In the end, he wasn’t needed with Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic gathering the points required to win. It doesn’t change. It’s a tennis match you’ll prepare for.
“It’s a tale of obstructed views”, he said.
Last weekend, Lloyd told the Daily Mail that Murray isn’t promoting the game enough, particularly for British tennis. Of course, now they’re going to play away which makes it different in Davis Cup because of the crowd and the different atmosphere that you get to feel. There were no TV cameras at all. There are never any guarantees in this competition, especially when you have to travel onto foreign soil.
Great Britain are the favourites for me, I think, with Murray on the team and the fantastic doubles team. I know they put in a lot of work even before (the Paris terror attacks).
“At [most] ties you think everything is fine, and the security, you don’t necessarily need it. But in situations like this, it’s great we have such capable people that are able to give us the best advice”. “That period of the year just before Indian Wells and Miami is very important for me”.
“Andy is in such an incredible position with power to do that but he doesn’t”.
When it comes to the business of trying to lift the trophy on Sunday, Darcis is at the centre of deliberations about the exact make-up of the Belgium team.
Andy Murray, Fleming and Evans secured a place in the World Group with a 4-1 play-off win over Croatia in September 2013, and they beat the US before losing to Italy in 2014.
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Not only that, but without Murray our highest ranked player would be Aljaz Bedene at 45 in the world and (in a comment on talent production, not on Bedene’s nationality) our highest ranked “home grown” player would be Kyle Edmund at 99 followed by James Ward who is 155th. Lloyd has been coaching for many years and consistently disagrees with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). Leon Smith, who has been at the heart of their journey since 2010, similarly tried to make light of the dilemma, which will settle on his shoulders alone.
