IN November, the 2021 Davis Cup takes place across three cities in Europe as 18 teams aim to lift the ultimate international men’s team prize. Six groups of three sees the group winner automatically advancing to the knockout quarter finals, with the two next best nations also moving through. In the lead-up to the event, Rookie Me Central will be previewing each of the nations in reverse world ranking order.

GREAT BRITAIN

Rank: 10th

Captain: Leon Smith

One of the danger teams of the 2021 Davis Cup Finals is Great Britain, with a great chance of overall qualification of the knockout stages, but also topping the group. The side is one that is seriously in form this year, and 12 months ago would have been looked at as making up the numbers, but fast forward to now and there is momentum behind them. Both Daniel Evans, and most recently specifically Cameron Norrie have both taken some big scalps this year, whilst the doubles duo of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski is a top combination. They have all the pieces to worry some of the better teams if they are not on their game.

Though both Great Britain and France are expected to skip past Czech Republic, the first-up battle between the two top nations will be fascinating. France has a new look with the long-awaited debut of Ugo Humbert, though unlike Norrie and Evans, his last few months have not been crash hot. Combined with either the rising Arthur Rinderknech or experienced veteran Richard Gasquet, France too has the potential to do some damage at the tournament. The doubles match between Salisbury and Skupski, and French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicholas Mahut is the pick of the group, with both elite combinations.

The winner of the group will almost certainly play Serbia who are hot favourites in Group F, which will be a tough challenge for Great Britain. Though the number one singles against Novak Djokovic is generally a foregone conclusion, the second singles and doubles are always a chance. For the first time in many years, there is a sense that Great Britain is not completely out of contention, even if the combined group of nations are underdogs overall.

Prediction: 1st in Group C

IN A SENTENCE: “Great Britain is the dark horse of the tournament, capable of topping Group C with some luck, and then with a strong doubles combination, able to do some damage to higher-ranked opponents.”

~