Like all long-running stories, the 20th Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and the United States in Glasgow this weekend is riddled with history and passion for the cause, and the result, ultimately depends on sublimation of the ego, a rare experience in a sport that demands selfishness from even fringe competitors.
Rich or famous, struggling or successful, the combatants here all know each other – and they need no reminding who is the central character.
The tie is not all about Andy Murray, of course – although, which ever way Thursday’s draw is computed, Scotland’s finest remains the difference between the teams in the city in which he was born. While the Americans lead 11-8 since the teams first met in the inaugural match 115 years ago, and won this competition for the 32nd time as recently as 2007, they are not the force they were. There is no clear favourite to go on to the quarter-finals against either Germany or France in July.
Murray, the best player this country has ever had, is drawn against the visiting team’s least experienced, Donald Young, who was Jim Courier’s final pick after a run of hardcourt form boosted his ATP world ranking to 47. James Ward plays the Marathon Man, John Isner, in Friday’s second singles match, and the slow court will not suit the American’s big serve.
The crucial calculation hangs on the manner of Murray’s first-day performance. If he can get Young out of the way in three or four quick sets, and Ward slips up against Isner, the GB coach, Leon Smith, will be tempted to call on his best player for Saturday’s doubles, with either his brother, Jamie, or Dom Inglot, against that discipline’s pre-eminent practitioners of the past few decades, Bob and Mike Bryan. Murray, however, thinks he might have a day off. “I would say it is unlikely I will play the doubles but, if it’s required, I know Jamie’s game well, and Dom’s. Both of them have started this year very well.”
The elder Murray was in upbeat mood on Thursday. “I am absolutely fine,” Jamie said of his absence on Wednesday because of a cold. “It was just a precaution. I did not want to spend two days in a row talking to you guys.
“We travel 30 to 40 weeks a year by ourselves, playing for ourselves. Then two or three weeks we are all in it together, everyone is as one, everyone is doing their best for each other, on the court or off the court. You are going the extra mile for each other and we are all good mates.”
As Courier aptly described it on Thursday: “Some people rise to the occasion and some people shrink from it. But very rarely do players play normal in this situation. That’s one of the important things about the competition, feeling the team camaraderie, feeling the pride and responsibility of playing for your nation, and seeing how you manage that.”
Ward, who has a Three Lions tattoo, famously rose to the occasion in San Diego last year against Sam Querrey. If Britain win again here, it will be the first back-to-back success against the United States since 1905: more pressing history.
“The two biggest passions in my life are Arsenal and playing for my country,” Ward said. “I wish I played for Arsenal rather than playing tennis, to be honest with you. You can’t have everything in life and I try my best at what I am doing.”
As Courier remembered the Ward-Querrey match: “Sam had not dropped serve, he was up 4-2 in the fourth set, two sets to one up. He really should have won in straight sets. He had 0-40 early in the third set to break serve but didn’t get it. The match was on Sam’s racket and he let it get away. But James was first-pumping at 2-4 down in the fourth. His energy, his spirit, was really strong.”
Isner, too, likes to wave the flag. “You are not playing for yourself, you’re playing for your country out there,” he said. “I’ve certainly had some very good wins being the underdog before, and some losses when I was the favourite. Even though I’m ranked ahead of James, I know it’s going to be tough.”
