GLASGOW’S Emirates Arena has been confirmed as the venue for Great Britain’s Davis Cup World Group semi-final against Australia next month with visitors urged to form a blue sea of support to cheer Andy Murray and co into the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1978. The widely-trailed choice of venue owed much to the decision of music act Florence and the Machine’s refusal to switch the date of their concert at the Manchester Evening News arena that weekend, despite entreaties from the LTA to do so.
Instead, the tie returns to the scene of the sold-out, triumphant world group first round victory against the USA in March, on the same indoor hard court surface, with an extra couple of hundred of extra seats squeezed into the venue, taking the capacity up to 8,200 a day, to meet the competition’s requirements. With Andy Murray and Jamie Murray sure to be involved, not to mention Davis Cup captain Leon Smith in charge, the team is sure to have a real Scottish flavour, although Wally Masur’s Australian team – who can call upon veterans such as Lleyton Hewitt and young guns such as Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Sam Groth – have already overcome the No 1 ranked Czech Republic and Kazakhstan to reach this stage. The meeting with the USA in March saw a noisy crowd carry James Ward to a stunning five-set win against John Isner, while Andy Murray won his two singles rubbers in straight sets against Donald Young and then Isner and Smith is clearly hoping for more of the same from September 18 to 20.
“We have had incredible support any time we played at home, none more so than when we played in Glasgow,” said Smith, who has helped guide this team from the brink of Euro/Africa Zone III, the lowest level of the competition. “Playing indoors allows the noise level to go through the roof and will give our team the ideal platform they need to get inspired. This will be important against a nation with the Davis Cup pedigree of Australia as we try to reach the final of competition for the first time in nearly 40 years. To bring all our fans together, I would like to ask anyone supporting us to wear Blue or Navy over the course of the weekend and make as much noise as possible.”
“It’s exciting for the team to be going back to Glasgow,” added Andy Murray, the World No 3. “It’s always special to play in front of a home crowd and we are fortunate to have played our last three ties at home. We had a unique atmosphere in Glasgow, the crowd was unbelievable. It’s going to be a huge week for our team and we’ll be doing everything we can to get GB through to the final.”
The tie will be the 13th meeting between the two nations dating back to 1907, with Australia holding an 8-4 advantage. While this is Great Britain’s first Davis Cup semi-final since 1981, it is a stage Australia have reached no fewer than 14 times previously since then. With Belgium (away) or Argentina (home) the potential final opponents, their last final appearance came with a 4-1 defeat to a John McEnroe-inspired USA, with the last outright victory coming, against Australia, back in the days of Fred Perry in 1936.
“We are delighted that Glasgow has been selected to host the Aegon GB Davis Cup Team once again for the semi-final against Australia in September,” said Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events. “Scotland is the perfect stage for events and we are certain that fans from all across the country will turn out in force to show their support at the Emirates Arena.”
Tickets sold out in minutes back in March and there is sure to be a similar scramble this time around. British Tennis Members and previous 2015 Davis Cup purchasers will be given priority access to tickets from 7am Tuesday 25 August. Tickets will then go on general sale from 7am Thursday 27 August. Three-day tickets will be available and a variety of price points will be offered across all three days. Hospitality is on sale now. For the latest information on tickets and hospitality, please visit www.lta.org.uk/DavisCup or follow us on twitter @BritishTennis or (www.facebook.com/britishtennislta).
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