Davis Cup Finals 2019: Great Britain vs Spain semi-final preview

Great Britain take on hosts Spain in the semi-finals of the 2019 Davis Cup Finals at the Caja Magica, Madrid, on Saturday November 23.

In the quarter-finals on Friday November 22, Britain beat Germany 2-0, while tournament favourites Spain defeated Argentina 2-1.

Kyle Edmund earned his second victory of the event with an excellent 6-3 7-5 win against world no.79 Philipp Kohlschreiber, putting Britain 1-0 up.

Britain’s no.1 singles player, Dan Evans, then sealed the tie, grinding out a gritty 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) victory against world no.35 Jan-Lennard Struff.

Spain had to come from behind in their tie, after Argentina’s Guido Pella beat Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in the first rubber.

World no.1, Rafael Nadal, responded with a crushing 6-1 6-2 win against Diego Schwartzman, sending the contest to a deciding doubles match.

Nadal combined with 25th-ranked doubles player, Marcel Granollers, to seal victory for Spain with a battling 6-4 4-6 6-3 win against Argentine pair -Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Mayer.

Britain’s captain Leon Smith is expected to stick with Edmund and Evans for the singles ties in the semi-final, with Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski the doubles pairing.

Andy Murray, who struggled physically in beating the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor – his only match of the event – will likely be left out again.

Spain will almost certainly play Carreno Busta and Nadal again in singles, and will likely field Nadal and Granollers in a potential deciding doubles tie.

If these are the line-ups, Edmund will face Carreno-Busta and Evans will play Nadal.

The winner will play either Russia or Canada in the final on Sunday.