Britain will attempt to win the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years this weekend when they take on Belgium in Ghent, although if they do succeed the Scottish town of Dunblane could argue its name should be enscribed on the trophy.
Advertisement
Security at the 13,000-capacity Flanders Expo has been tightened in the wake of the alert level in nearby Brussels being raised to its highest category and transport and schools shut.
The British team, spearheaded by world No. 2 Andy Murray and seeking its first title since 1936, was due to take the Eurostar to Belgium on Sunday, but instead made the journey by private plane a day later, bypassing Brussels altogether by landing at a small airport near Ghent. Murray has won all five singles matches, as well as the two doubles matches he has played for the Davis Cup this year.
But with security set to be strict around the Flanders Expo Arena, the Scot said: “You have to try to get on with life as normally as much as possible”.
“We’ve played in front of our fans to know what the atmosphere is like when it’s been on our side”. “But for the second player, I think Belgium has the edge”.
“I think we as a team have a lot of confidence in the organization”, he said.
The man in charge of the recovery since Vilnius is the team captain, Leon Smith, who was Andy Murray’s coach for part of his teenage years. Obviously listen to the right people, if you re doing that. As the dust settles, we are left with an unlikely match up of unseeded teams in the final. “You know it’s there but you’re not really listening”. Maybe Kim and Justine will come to watch us play: I think there will be a lot of emotion, a insane crowd.
Belgium is led by David Goffin.
Andy Murray says the Great Britain team feel secure in Ghent amid concerns over a potential terrorist attack in Belgium. It’s very quiet. I think it’s a really nice city.
The venue is a “soulless warehouse on the edge of an industrial estate, with a ceiling so low that it must only barely meet the ITF’s standards”, says Simon Briggs of the Daily Telegraph.
Speaking to ESPN in the build-up to a hectic end to his 2015 season, the world number two admitted that the situation was “not ideal” as he attempted to “juggle the two” competitions by training on both clay and hard court.
‘I think it’s not for me to give people advice on security.
Tim Henman has defended Andy Murray amid criticism from former Davis Cup captain David Lloyd, who claimed the world number two does not give enough back to British tennis. ‘The most important thing is that we’re here now, we’re practising.
Whether Smith hands a debut to 20-year-old Edmund or goes with the experience of Ward, Britain’s hopes rest largely on the shoulders of Murray.
Advertisement
Betway has extended its marketing coverage within the sport of tennis by announcing that it has agreed terms with the worldwide Tennis Federation (ITF) to become an sponsor partner for both Davis Cup and Fed Cup BNP Paribas tournaments.
