Davis Cup tie to bring windfall of £20m for city

GLASGOW will benefit from a £20 million economic boost from hosting the Davis Cup semi-final next month, business leaders have said.

Andy Murray said it was “exciting” that the Great Britain team would take on Australia in his home country, having called for the tie to be played at the Emirates Arena where the crowd created an “incredible” atmosphere during the team’s tie against the USA in March.

Stuar t Patr ick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said the announcement by the Lawn Tennis Association would be massive boost to the city.

He said: “This is fantastic news for Glasgow and, going by the experience of previous Davis Cup semi-finals, our hospitality and leisure sector should be in for a bonanza of anything up £20m.

“Extra seating at the Emirates Arena will mean [crowds of] over 8,000 at each session over the three days of the match, with many of these visitors from outside the city.”

He said the LTA initially looked at the Manchester Arena but Florence and the Machine are due to play there on the same weekend as the semi-final . He adde d : “Manchester’s loss is our gain and we will take full advantage of that by putting on a great semi-final, and further enhancing our growing reputation as a host of major sporting events.”

The matches against Australia, to take place at the Emirates in September, will be the 13th meeting between the two nations since their first meeting in the competition in 1907. Australia hold an 8-4 advantage.

Murray said: “It’s going to be a huge week for our team and we’ll do everything we can to get GB to the final.”