ANDY Murray will spearhead Great Britain's bid to book a second successive Davis Cup final spot, it was confirmed yesterday. The World No 2 and two-time Olympic champion, who faces Kei Nishikori in the US Open quarter finals at Flushing Meadows today, declined to participate in the quarter final tie against Serbia in July but returns to Leon Smith's team for the semi-final against Argentina at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow later this month.
While the final selections will not be confirmed until the day before the tie, there were no surprises in Smith's team, which includes in-form singles players Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans as well as excellent doubles options in the form of Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot. With Evans an injury doubt, Liam Broady will also travel to the East End of Glasgow as cover. While the Argentinian nominations had yet to be confirmed at the time of writing, the match will almost certainly see the 29-year-old reprise his Olympic singles final against Juan Martin del Potro. The only South American team in the World Group, Argentina have defeated Poland and Italy thus far in 2016, while captain Daniel Orsanic can also call upon the likes of Federico Delbonis, Juan Monaco and Guido Pella.
"It has been a great summer for the British players with Andy once again leading from the front," said Smith. "The performances from the players at the US Open give us a lot of momentum going into the tie.?
“We are confident that we can do the job at the Emirates although we know we are up against an Argentina team with impressive strength in depth," he added. "And of course the return to form of Juan Martin del Potro makes their team stronger again.
“This is the semifinal of the Davis Cup, we are leaving no stone unturned in our preparations and I know that our team will give their best effort, and fight for every point in this tie. Returning to Glasgow means a lot to all of the team. The venue is full of such positive memories for us all. And the support, it has been just incredible. I can’t wait to hear that again.”
While Murray is in the form of his life, so too are Evans and Edmund, who are closing in on the world's top 50. Edmund reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first ever time with stunning wins over Richard Gasquet and John Isner while Evans had match point against World No 3 Stan Wawrinka in the third round before going down in five sets.
These two sides have met four times previously in the tournament's history, with Argentina leading the head-to-head 3-1. The winners of the tie will face either Croatia or France in the final from 25 Nov - 27 Nov 2016.
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