Davis Cup Finals 2023: Leon Smith names strong side for Final 8 in Malaga
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Lexus Great Britain Davis Cup Team captain and LTA Head of Men’s Tennis, Leon Smith, has announced his team to represent Great Britain at the Davis Cup Final 8 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga, Spain from 21-26 November.
Smith names a strong team for the Finals, incluing four of the five players that took Great Britain to victories over Australia, Switzerland and France at the Davis Cup Finals Group Stages in Manchester back in September.
Dan Evans has been replaced by doubles star Joe Salisbury after the British No.2 sustained an injury at the Vienna Open.
Update
Andy Murray has been forced to pull out of the Davis Cup Finals with a minor shoulder injury and will be replaced by Liam Broady.
Lexus GB Davis Cup team
- Cam Norrie (world No.18)
- Jack Draper (world No.61)
- Liam Broady (world No.102)
- Neal Skupski (Doubles – world No.3)
- Joe Salisbury (Doubles - world No.12)
“The guys did such a great job that week in Manchester and we will go to Malaga with confidence and belief that we can be successful," said Smith.
“The quarter final versus Serbia will of course be a big challenge with a team led by world No.1 Novak Djokovic but we have to believe we can win.”
Great Britain are set to face Serbia in the quarter-final match in Malaga on Thursday 23 November at 16:00 CET, with the winning team going on to face the winner of Italy vs Netherlands in the semi-final.
Here’s some more information on the Lexus GB Davis Cup Team set to take to Malaga:
Cam Norrie
Age: 27
Ranking: 18
Davis Cup ties played: 11
Davis Cup record: 7-7
Norrie heads to Malaga as Great Britian’s highest ranked player. The British No.1 picked up his fifth tour-level title in Rio back in February, and more recently made the semi-final of the men’s doubles at the Rolex Shanghai Masters alongside Rinky Hijikata. At the Group Stages in Manchester, Norrie lost out to Ugo Humbert and Stan Wawrinka and will be gunning to return to winning ways in Malaga for what could be his 12th Davis Cup tie.
Jack Draper
Age: 21
Ranking: 61
Davis Cup ties played: 1
Davis Cup record: 1-0
Draper has once again had the call up to join the Lexus GB team in Malaga, after the 21-year-old made his Davis Cup debut at the Group Stages in Manchester. Draper – who has been in impressive form since returning from injury – became LTA Colour Holder No.323 after pulling off a comeback win over Australia’s Thanasi Kokinakkis 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(4). Since then, the British No.4 has gone on to finish runner-up at the ATP Challenger event in Orleans, France and came through two rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw at the Japan Open.
Liam Broady
Age: 29
Ranking: 102
Davis Cup ties played: 1
Davis Cup record: 0-1
Broady comes into the team full of confidence, off the back of yet another great season that has seen him rise into the ATP top 100 for the first time and achieve a new career-high ranking at world No.93.
His highlights this year include a second career ATP Challenger title in Vilnius, finals in Biel and Saint-Tropez and a third round finish at Wimbledon, where he beat then world No.4 Casper Ruud 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in a Centre Court epic.
Neal Skupski
Age: 33
Ranking: 3 (doubles)
Davis Cup ties played: 11
Davis Cup record: 7-4
Reigning Wimbledon men’s doubles champion Skupski re-joins the line-up as Great Britain’s doubles specialist, following a successful run in Manchester alongside Evans where the pair won two out of their three doubles rubbers. Since then, Skupski has reunited with Dutch doubles partner Wesley Koolhof, where they finished runners-up at the China Open. With a tough challenge coming the way of the Brits against Novak Djokovic’s Serbia, the former world No.1s doubles specialism will prove a vital asset to Smith’s squad.
Joe Salisbury
Age: 31
Ranking: 12 (doubles)
Davis Cup ties played: 6
Davis Cup record: 2-6
Salisbury joins the team for to compete at his third Davis Cup Finals in as many years and brings a wealth of experience in replacing Dan Evans. The former world No.1 has had another brilliant season with American Rajeev Ram, winning three ATP titles - including a third successive US Open men's doubles crown. Salisbury is Great Britain's most successful men's doubles player in the Open Era, boasting four Grand Slams and a Nitto ATP Finals title.
