There was considerable speculation ahead of the draw for the semi-final tie between old Davis Cup rivals Great Britain and Argentina.
Not that these two nations have met many times, but their history in Davis Cup, and against one another, goes back a long way. Great Britain and the United States launched what has become the biggest annual international team competition in sport back in 1900, but Argentina was one of the early signatories to the tournament in 1923, and faced GB for the first time in 1928.
Almost 90 years later, the picture is a very different one from that first, which was played on clay at Abbey Park Gardens in Torquay by a line-up of names that few but the most dedicated followers of tennis will recall: Colin Gregory, Edward Higgs, Cyril Eames, Gordon Crole-Rees, anyone?
GB won that first meeting but lost the next three, yet Argentina had yet to win the title from four finals. Now they had the chance of reaching a fifth final, and the picture could not have been different.
Not the red stuff of 1928: This would be played in the altogether different environment of Glasgow, indoors, on a fast hard court. And this time, Great Britain was defending its 2015 title, its 10th.
Also different, the names of the contenders in this multi-media era are known around the world. That 1928 British squad featured a Grand Slam champion: Gregory won the Australian Open the next year.
This British squad, and the one that won the Davis Cup last year, features a three-time Grand Slam champion, Andy Murray, and the Argentina squad boasts the 2009 US Open champion, Juan-Martin del Potro. Both are multi-million-pound stars—and both would go head to head in the very first match of this semi-final tie.
It was perhaps the best possible opening, as GB captain Leon Smith explained: “Exciting way to start Friday, from a fan’s point of view and media point of view, everybody’s going to grab hold of that, it’s great.”
As is the format in Davis Cup, the top player of one nation opens against the second player of the opposition, with the reverse singles in the next match. But del Potro came into this tie ranked just 64, and that from a ranking outside the top 300 six months ago. But the big man from Argentina, after multiple wrist surgeries, was back in form and back winning. He beat US Open champion Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in Rio, and David Ferrer and Dominic Thiem in New York.
Indeed what made this opening rubber such a blockbuster was that del Potro and Murray had contested the Olympic gold medal, and it was a four-set cracker. Their previous meeting, way back in 2013, also played on hard court in Indian Wells, went to del Potro.
The entire tie, then, could come down to this one match, the battle for superiority between the big guns of their respective nations. But what of the second players, neither of them slouches, both eager for the fray. And then there was the doubles tie, the one that can so often prove decisive in Davis Cup.
Smith had a tough call between the two Britons who both arrived in Glasgow on career-high rankings after shining runs at the US Open.
Dan Evans, at 53, has been playing some of the best tennis of his career this summer. He beat No27 seed Alexander Zverev and held match-point against No3 seed Wawrinka before finally losing in the third round in New York.
Kyle Edmund was beginning to make waves with his power game, had almost stolen the rubber against David Goffin in the Davis Cup final in Belgium last November, and won both singles ties in the quarter-final against Serbia.
In New York, he reached the fourth round of a Major for the first time after beating No13 Richard Gasquet and No20 John Isner, but found US Open defending champion Djokovic a step too far. It took him, though, to No55.
And the nod went to 21-year-old Edmund, explained thus by Smith: “Difficult choice because both Dan and Kyle are playing great tennis, pretty much neck and neck in the rankings, both have really good Davis Cup experience now. But it wasn’t a question of picking one and not the other, it was a question of looking across three days, which is important, and this felt how we wanted to start on Friday.”
He will play Guido Pella, ranked 49 but as high as 39 earlier this year. But for Argentina captain Daniel Orsanic, the choice was also hard. He made no secret of the fact that, despite his current ranking, del Potro was the star player: “Without a doubt. I think he’s going through a really good moment. His comeback is good for tennis so you can imagine what it means for us Argentines. It’s very valuable that he’s back on tour and on the Argentine squad.”
However, Orsanic could also call upon Federico Delbonis, ranked 41, or the more experienced Leonardo Mayer, a former No21 a year back before injury knocked him to his present 113. These two will join forces in doubles against the brothers Murray.
However, another unforeseen element emerged among the facts and figures of draws, head-to-heads and current form. The Murrays’ grandfather died a few days ago, and his funeral will be held on the first day of play. Andy made his excuses from the post-draw press conference to pay his last respects, while Jamie will represent the brothers at Friday’s funeral.
But ahead of the draw, Murray admitted: “You want to do well obviously. We’ve had a great run in the last couple of years, and this is going to be a very, very tough weekend for us to win this one, but all the players want to get through it, and it’s a big goal for all of us: Trying to reach another Davis Cup Final would be a fantastic achievement.
“There have been so many big events in the last few months and it’s been difficult to sort of prioritise every single one, but at the end of a long summer, we’ve got an opportunity to win again, so we’ll give it everything.”
Smith had every confidence that Murray would rise to the challenge: “It’s always a big ask. We do have four players who can come in and out, but clearly the intention is to have Andy and Jamie play doubles… but look, last year, on a couple of occasions, namely the semis against Australia, you could see Andy was fatigued, actually maybe more physically than mentally, and he still found a way to do it. He’s a very robust guy both physically and mentally so don’t be surprised to see him do it.”
And he surely spoke for the whole team in concluding: “When we come together as a group you can tell that the feeling is very, very strong to try and to do this again. If you look at all the occasions—the last two matches this year, the friendship, the fight, the support the spirit, it’s still there and is very, very special. Everyone wants to keep this going.”
Nuts and bolts
Date: 16-18 September
Emirates Arena, Glasgow GB; hard indoor; pace rating, medium fast
Friday 16, 1pm
R1 Andy Murray (No2) vs Juan Martin del Potro (No64): H2H 6-2 to Murray
R2 Kyle Edmund (No55) vs Guido Pella (No49): H2H 1-0 to Pella
Saturday 17, 2pm
R3 Andy Murray and Jamie Murray vs Federico Delbonis and Leonardo Mayer: H2H, never played, but Murrays have won all five previous Cup matches together
Sunday 18, 1pm
R4 Andy Murray (No2) vs Guido Pella (No49): H2H never played
R5 Kyle Edmund (No55) vs Juan Martin del Potro (No64): H2H never played