This year’s Davis Cup is starting to take shape with only eight teams still involved with a shot at securing the title and Great Britain will be hoping they can emulate their achievements of 2015 by doing so.
Then led into battle by Andy Murray, Great Britain defeated Belgium to claim their first Davis Cup title since 1936.
Eight years on and Great Britain will be bidding to repeat the feat, with Murray, Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper needing to be at the top of their games to achieve that goal.
Canada, the defending champions, are still in the running along with Italy, the Netherlands and Australia.
Great Britain face Serbia in their respective quarter-final in Malaga, with the winner set to clash with either the Italians or the Dutch, and that could be trouble as that is the country of current world number one Novak Djokovic.
To get the pulses racing for Britain’s last-eight encounter, which takes place on 23rd November, we take a look at how they booked their ticket in the Davis Cup Finals.
The Davis Cup started with 16 teams, split into four groups of four, with the top two from each section advancing to the quarter-finals.
Great Britain had a tough looking section featuring Australia, France and Switzerland, yet it was a test they passed with flying colours.
The nations had to play one another in round-robin format, with all three matches scheduled between 12th and 17th September at the Manchester Arena.
Great Britain’s opening game was against Australia and on paper that looked their toughest test, with the Aussie squad featuring world number 12 Alex De Minaur, the dangerous Thanasi Kokkinakis and double partners Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.
The format featured two singles matches and a doubles contest, with a nation winning either 3-0 or 2-1.
First up was Draper, a 21-year-old with a seriously bright future, and he delivered the goods to get the better of Kokkinakis, winning 6-7 6-3 7-6 to edge Britain ahead.
Things looked tougher for Dan Evans against De Minaur but he upset the odds too, triumphing 6-1 2-6 6-4 to take all the pressure off the concluding doubles match.
Evans and Neal Skupski were beaten in straight-sets by Ebden and Purcell but it was still a noteworthy 2-1 victory for the plucky Brits.
Britain’s next challenge came from Switzerland and, while it was a blessing that Roger Federer was no longer in their ranks, it was still a strong opponent featuring three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka and the dangerous Dominic Stricker.
However, the Brits were up to the test and they made a strong start with Murray overcoming Leandro Riedi to get them up and running.
But veteran Wawrinka put his experience to good use against Norrie, winning 7-5 6-4 to take the tie down to the final leg of doubles.
Evans and Skupski were entrusted with that occasion and they defeated Wawrinka and Stricker 6-3 6-3 to give them a second successive 2-1 win.
Great Britain’s final game in Group B was to be against France, who were armed with the services of up-and-coming youngster Arthur Fils, Ugo Humbert and Nicolas Mahut.
But it was another memorable match-up for Britain as they picked up another 2-1 success, with Evans setting the tone with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over Fils.
Norrie was unable to emulate his achievements and suffered a three-set defeat to Humbert to again pile the pressure on the doubles pairing of Evans and Skupski.
But they delivered again, coming from a set down to outlast Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in a thrilling three-set tiebreak.
That secured their place as Group B winners and they will be joined by Australia in the quarter-final after they won their other two matches against France and Switzerland.
The reward for winning Group B is a quarter-final showdown with Group C runners-up Serbia, who chased home Czech Republic.
However, Serbia didn’t need to call upon Djokovic in the group stages and it is likely that he will return to their squad, which could be an issue with the Brits.
With Djokovic joining up with Laslo Djere, Miomir Kecmanovic and Dusan Lajovic, this is a strong Serbia squad and Britain will need to play extremely well to qualify for the final four.
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