‘It’s always special’ – Andy Murray named in Great Britain squad for Davis Cup group stage at Glasgow Arena

Andy Murray has been named in Great Britain’s four-man squad for the Davis Cup group stage, which takes place next month at the Glasgow Emirates Arena.

The 35-year-old will be alongside British No.1 Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Joe Salisbury to make his first appearance in the competition since 2016.

Murray has experienced a tumultuous 2022 after reaching the final at the ATP Stuttgart, but failed to get past the second round of Wimbledon following defeat to John Isner and succumbed to first-round exits in Washington and in Montreal.

The Davis Cup is known as the ‘World Cup of Tennis’ and will see Great Britain play at home for the first time in four years.

A total of 16 countries will battle it out for the trophy, and have been divided into four groups of four nations. Glasgow will host the Group D action, as the Brits face Kazakhstan, United States and the Netherlands between September 13 and 18.

Speaking about his inclusion in the squad, he told LTA Tennis: “It’s always special playing in a Davis Cup tie in front of a home crowd.

“Some of the best moments of my career have come representing my country in the Davis Cup, so to be a part of the team again means a lot.”

Norrie has usurped Murray as the British No.1 and made it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon for the first time ahead of a defeat to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. It’s not all gone the 26-year-old’s way though, after he was most recently defeated in the Canadian Open quarter-finals by Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“Coming into a Davis Cup as the British No. 1 – it doesn’t get much better than that,” he explained.

“Having Andy in the team of course is a real boost. Both him and Dan were here in 2015 when we went on to win the competition and having that experience is really important, but it also drives the rest of us to get there as well.

“I love team competition and relish the pressure of playing Davis Cup for my country.”

Leon Smith has been the captain of the Davis Cup team for 12 years and revealed that a fifth player will be announced in due course. His record in this competition on home soil is impressive, holding an 11-2 record at home.

“I’m delighted to name such a strong team to take on the other three nations next month in Glasgow,” he said.

“We have really good strength and depth at the moment and selections have been tougher than ever. We will also be adding a fifth player to the team in the coming weeks.

“Emirates Arena has been a brilliant venue for our team in the past creating some of the best atmospheres and memories our players have experienced.

“We are very excited to bring Davis Cup back there for the first time in over four years and look forward to a packed-out stadium making some serious noise for our team.”