Davis Cup Preview: The British stars set to take on Uzbekistan
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Great Britain take on Uzbekistan in Glasgow across the next few days as they attempt to book their place in next year’s David Cup World Group.
Leon Smith’s team find themselves in this position after losing to Spain in the first round in February.
Can they extend their five-year stay in the World Group without Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund? Or will the Uzbeks break their 10-match losing streak at this stage of the competition?
We take a look at the five players set to do battle for GB in Scotland.
Cameron Norrie
The highest ranked player in the team has performed well on the ATP Tour this season.
Norrie has tasted success against the likes of John Isner and Nick Kyrgios on his way to three World Tour 250 series’ semi-finals.
He won one and lost one when GB took on Spain earlier this year. He’ll be looking to improve on that record here.
Jay Clarke
One of Britain’s rising stars takes his Davis Cup bow against Uzbekistan after rising 82 places in the rankings since the start of the year.
Clarke only narrowly missed out on reaching the second round at Wimbledon and followed that up with a maiden Challenger Tour success in New York.
There should be more to come from the 20-year-old against an Uzbek side lacking in genuine quality.
Daniel Evans
It’s not been easy for Dan Evans since his return from a drugs ban in April this year.
The 2015 Davis Cup winner failed to gain entry to Wimbledon but did step up his comeback by winning the Odlum Brown Van Open in August.
He has plenty of experience in this competition. But he’ll need to improve on a poor overall record.
Evans has won just four of his 16 singles matches played on a hard surface.
Jamie Murray
It’s been quite a year for Jamie Murray.
The Scotsman lost out alongside Victoria Azarenka in the Mixed Doubles Final at Wimbledon, before triumphing with partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the US Open.
His Doubles experience will be crucial alongside Dominic Inglot, in what is his 18th Davis Cup tie.
Dominic Inglot
The aforementioned Inglot has become a mainstay of the GB team after forging a confident partnership with Murray.
His 2018 has been exceptional too – three Doubles titles marking his best return from any season so far.
He and Murray will likely be up against the pairing of Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov.
All Odds and Markets correct as of date of publication
