GHENT: Kyle Edmund will have a Davis Cup baptism of fire for Britain in Ghent on Friday when he leads the way in a final against Belgium that no-one expected at the start of the year.
The 20-year-old newcomer will be a big underdog against top Belgian player David Goffin, but the British team has a safety net in that their spearhead, world number two Andy Murray, then takes on lowly-ranked Ruben Bemelmans.
The likely outcome is a 1-1 tie at the end of the first day that will set the scene for a potentially decisive doubles on Saturday when Murray and older brother Jamie will take on the untested pairing of Steve Darcis and Kimmer Coppejans.
Both sides are set on making history in a tennis showpiece shrouded in doubt for a while over the Belgian-based terrorist attacks on Paris.
Britain's last win in the Davis Cup came in 1936 when Fred Perry was the kingpin.
Belgium have only reached the final once and that came 111 years ago, in the early days of the competition, when they lost to what was then the British Isles team.
Murray, Britain's outstanding player of the modern era, has already etched his name in the record books with his US Open Grand Slam win in 2012 and above all his 2013 Wimbledon triumph, which was also the first time that had happened for a British player since Perry won in 1936.
A Davis cup triumph would doubly seal his place in tennis history, having already won all eight rubbers he has played this year -- six singles and two doubles.
Only two players before him -- John McEnroe and Mats Wilander -- have won all eight singles games since the Davis Cup World Group was started.
Murray though insists it is more than just a matter of him against the Belgians on a specially prepared indoors claycourt in the Flanders Expo centre as many are portraying the final to be.
Comments
Comments are closed.