Cameron Norrie has said he will approach Novak Djokovic as “just another player” when he leads the Great Britain team against Serbia on Thursday at the “Final 8” stage of the Davis Cup. A spot in the semi- final will be up for grabs for the victorious nation.
“I’m going to go and be myself, give it everything and take it to him,” said Norrie, Britain’s No 1. “A huge privilege to play against him, compete against him, especially in Davis Cup. I have played him in a few big matches already.
“I can’t wait. It’s a huge challenge and I think we’re all ready to play Serbia. We’re excited to get out there, at the end of the day he’s just another player and I’m going to go run for everything and give it everything.”
After narrowly advancing from the group stages in Manchester with the team at full strength, Great Britain have suffered significant blows ahead of the quarter-final round in Málaga. Dan Evans and Andy Murray, the British No 2 and No 3 respectively in singles, have both been ruled out of competition.
The absence of even one top-100 British player a decade or so ago would have meant almost certain defeat, but it is a reflection of the squad’s current depth that they still boast a strong team with significant potential. Murray and Evans have been replaced by Joe Salisbury, the recent US Open and ATP Finals doubles champion, and the Wimbledon doubles champion Neal Skupski. Liam Broady, who recently reached the top 100 for the first time, completes the team.
“The upside to it as well is everyone knows where they stand,” said Leon Smith, the Great Britain captain. “There’s no ambiguity around who might play or waiting, tapping the shoulder from me to say, ‘You’re in, you’re not in.’ There’s none of that. I think that can work in our favour.”
Norrie will be searching for a career-best win against the top player in the world but the more likely scenario is the battle of each team’s No 2 players defining the tie, with the pressure on Jack Draper to record a singles win. The 21-year-old has been in great form recently, winning an ATP Challenger event and then reaching his first ATP final in back-to-back weeks.
Serbia have a wealth of talented top-60 singles players to choose from, with Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic and Miomir Kecmanovic all former top-30 players. The No 33 Djere played a significant role in Serbia qualifying for the quarter-finals and the athletic 28-year-old seems to be the likely opponent for Draper. Serbia would clearly prefer to win both singles rubbers against lower-ranked opponents rather than fight through a decisive doubles rubber.
“We are a team that, as you can see here, we don’t have any doubles specialists,” Djokovic said. “We rely on singles, but if it comes to doubles, we are also ready to pair up in the different combinations and give it all.”
For Djokovic, the turnaround since defeating Jannik Sinner in straight sets to win a record seventh title at the ATP Finals has been sharp. Instead of celebrating a spectacular conclusion to his individual season in Turin, he was, less than a day later, on a flight here to prepare for the final event of the year.
“I said many months ago, actually the beginning of the season, that Davis Cup has been and is one of my greatest goals of this season and always is,” Djokovic said. “Hopefully I will be able to contribute to a win.”
Either way, this will be a significant occasion. Of the four quarter-finals, all of which are expected to be well attended, Serbia-Great Britain has enjoyed the most activity. Up to 5,000 British fans are expected in the stadium on Thursday, made up of those living in and close to Málaga, as well as those travelling from abroad. A prominent Serbian presence is also expected in the sold-out 9,000-seat Palacio de los Deportes.
