Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LIFE MUST GO CAMERON
GB insist there can be Davis Cup glory even without the Murrays
GREAT BRITAIN will play a Davis Cup tie without a Murray brother for the first time since 2013 when they take on France today.
The two Scots were the stars of the team which won the trophy for the first time in 79 years in
2015. But Andy Murray made himself unavailable while Jamie Murray was not picked for the five-man squad for the finals, which start with two matches in Innsbruck this weekend.
World No.12 Cameron Norrie and world No.25 Dan Evans (top) will play the singles, with Liam Broady (middle) in reserve, while US Open doubles champ
Joe Salisbury (bottom) will make his Davis Cup debut alongside Neal Skupski.
The last time neither Murray played was when Great Britain beat Russia 3-2 in Coventry in April 2013.
Captain Leon Smith said: “Andy and Jamie have been mainstays in the team for a long time because they’ve been at the top of the game for a very long time. They played a big part the year we won it. But what’s really pleasing is you look at the group of guys we’ve got here and they’re all at career-high rankings, all operating at a really high level. They deserve to be here.”
Britain meet Czech Republic tomorrow and victory in Group C would seal them a clash with Serbia in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. But the national lockdown in Austria means the matches will be played behind closed doors. “We’re all pretty gutted that there’s not going to be anyone in here,” said Broady.
Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out after testing positive for Covid-19 in Madrid. The first revamped Davis Cup was staged in the Spanish capital in 2019 but matches will also be held in Turin in Italy before the semi-finals and finals are back in Madrid.
The ITF and Gerard Pique’s Kosmos group are reported to be preparing to announce a five-year deal to hold the finals in Abu Dhabi.
But Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt said: “I think it’s ridiculous. It’s not what the Davis Cup is about.”