Davis Cup 2024: Great Britain vs Argentina – preview

When is Great Britain vs Argentina?                                 

Great Britain will face Argentina in their second match of the Davis Cup Finals Group Stages on Friday 13 September at the AO Arena in Manchester.

The tie will get underway at 13:00.

How to watch Great Britain vs Argentina at the Davis Cup

You can watch every tie from the Davis Cup on the Tennis Channel.

All of Great Britain’s ties will also be broadcast live on the Tennis Channel FAST channels, as well as BBC red button, BBC Sport website and BBC iPlayer.

The teams

Great Britain vs Argentina Davis Cup head-to-head

Great Britain and Argentina have faced each other five times in the history of the Davis Cup, with the South Americans holding a 4-1 lead.

Their last tie came in the 2016 World Group semi-finals, where former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro won a five set epic against Andy Murray to help Argentina come through 3-2. It’s one of only three times Murray lost a singles match for his country.

On Friday, the Brits will be hoping to beat Argentina for the first time in almost 100 years, with their only previous victory coming in 1928 thanks to performances from Colin Gregory, Gordon Crole-Rees and Cyril Eames.

Preview

Great Britain and Argentina made slightly differing starts to the Davis Cup Finals in Manchester, as the home team ran out winners against Finland, while the South Americans lost to Canada 2-1.

The big question for the Lexus GB team will be around team selection and who will play in the singles.

Having arrived late to camp after his semi-final run at the US Open, we could see Jack Draper’s first action of the week. The 22-year-old’s confidence will be sky high after his maiden Grand Slam semi-final and breaking into the top 20 for the first time.

Meanwhile, despite being the third highest ranked singles player on the GB team, Dan Evans brings the most experience to the team having played in his 26^th tie on Wednesday – overtaking Andy Murray to become joint second in GB history.

Evans marked his first appearance in Manchester with a win against Finland as did British No.3 Billy Harris – who beat Otto Virtanen on his debut for Great Britain. Harris has been one of the in-form British players of late, having made his first ATP quarter-final and semi-final this summer at the cinch Championships and then Rothesay International Eastbourne.

While Evans and Neal Skupski lost their opening doubles rubber, they are Britain’s most experienced duo. Smith could be tempted to call upon Wimbledon champion Henry Patten, who would be set to make his Davis Cup debut.

Argentina will pose a much different challenge for Great Britain than Finland – with a team all ranking either in the top 35 for singles or doubles.

23-year-old Sebastian Baez is the top-ranked player for Argentina after a few breakout years on tour. In 2023 he won three ATP titles and has since backed it up with trophies in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro this season.

Former world No.19 Francisco Cerundolo has been amongst the top in the game for a few seasons now and has three ATP titles to show for it – including the 2023 Rothesay International Eastbourne. However, his best results have come on the clay this year and he’s come into the Davis Cup in a poor run of form with first or second round exits in his last three tournaments.

Both Baez and Cerundolo lost their singles rubbers against Canada on Tuesday.

The Argentinian’s could call upon Tomas Martin Etcheverry instead during this tie – who knocked out Cerundolo in the US Open this month. Etcheverry’s best results this year have come in a final run in Lyon and semi-finals in Barcelona.

Doubles team Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez are very experienced together and will pose a threat should the tie go to a decider. Like their compatriots, while most success has come on clay, the duo won hard court titles at the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and at Washington last year.