Team GB have tough Davis Cup opener against USA

Great Britain’s top male tennis pro and world number five Andy Murray is joined by brother Jamie, James Ward and Dominic Inglot in making up this year’s Davis Cup quartet.

This foursome face a tough opening round contest on an indoor had court in Glasgow against the USA, however. Team GB are 22/1 outsiders with Coral to go all the way, and 10/11 to upset the Americans.

John Isner, ranked 20 in the world, should hold no fear for former Wimbledon and US Open champion Murray, though, as the Scot has a perfect three wins out of three in their previous head-to-heads.

The Davis Cup is not just about singles stars, however, with men’s doubles world number one pairing the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, on team USA (16/1 to win the whole competition). Their presence, plus another singles top 50 player in Donald Young, justifies an odds-on 4/5 price on the Americans getting through the tie.

Elsewhere in round one, neighbours France (11/4 second-favourites to lift the trophy) and Germany face each other. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga may be missing for the French (strong odds-on 1/4 favourites for the tie), but they will field two of the ATP tour’s top 20 men in Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils, backed up by seasoned pro Nicolas Mahut.

This strength in depth is more than the Germans have got, with their highest ranked player being Philipp Kohlschreiber (28). It looks like plain sailing for France in this fixture.

Serbia, 2/1 favourites to win the Davis Cup, clash with Croatia, and world number one Novak Djokovic continues to participate in this team event. His presence alone is the reason for a massively odds-on price of 1/100 for the Serbs to win this battle of former Yugoslavian states.

An intriguing encounter between Canada (6/1 shots for the competition) and Japan will pit two of the current top six men in professional tennis. Milos Raonic tackles Kei Nishikori here and, although the former is ranked two places below the Japanese star, it’s Canada who are odds-on favourites for their tie at 1/4.