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Davis Cup 2018: Semi-Final Preview

By Toby Oliver

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - FEBRUARY 19: Marin Cilic of Croatia returns a shot to Carlos Berlocq of Argentina during the ATP Rio Open 2018 at Jockey Club Brasileiro on February 19, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - FEBRUARY 19: Marin Cilic of Croatia returns a shot to Carlos Berlocq of Argentina during the ATP Rio Open 2018 at Jockey Club Brasileiro on February 19, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images) /
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KEY BISCAYNE, FL – MARCH 21: Cameron Norrie of Great Britain celebrates a point against Nicolas Jarry of Chilie during the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 21, 2018 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /

Davis Cup: Great Britain vs Uzbekistan

2015 winners Great Britain take on Uzbekistan in a world group play-off. It will be Great Britain’s first play-off since 2013 and the first time the two nations have faced each other in Davis Cup.

Uzbekistan are led by world number 60 Denis Istomin, who is the tie’s highest ranked singles player. He comes in fresh off the back of a challenger tour win in Chicago, so he will be high on confidence. He also recently won a gold medal at the Asian games. Istomin hasn’t lost a Davis Cup live singles rubber since 2016, so he is quite consistent in the competition.

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However, the other singles player for Uzbekistan is world number 434 Jurabek Karimov who has only played one live singles rubber in his career, which he lost. He competes, predominantly on the futures circuit, so will have to step up against Great Britain’s more experienced players.

Great Britain are without Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund, so Cam Norrie and a returning Dan Evans will play in the singles. Norrie had an excellent debut where he famously beat Bautista Agut, so he will hope for a similar upset against Istomin. Evans has been in good form since his return to the game, however it’s been a long time since he competed in front of a Davis Cup crowd, so it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts.

In the doubles, Dom Inglot and Jamie Murray will face Istomin and Sanjar Fayziev, which on paper puts Great Britain as favourites.

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