Davis Cup final 2015: Kyle Edmund unfazed about making debut in singles matches alongside Andy Murray
Untried youngster Kyle Edmund insists he will not be overawed if asked to make his Davis Cup debut for Great Britain in the final against Belgium, which starts on Friday in Ghent.
Edmund, 20, cracked the world’s top 100 for the first time this year and boosted his claims by winning a second-tier title in Brazil this month but has only ever won one match on the elite ATP Tour.
The British No3 would become the first player for 12 years to make their Davis Cup bow in the final if selected to take up Britain’s second singles slot, alongside spearhead Andy Murray.
Team captain Leon Smith is set to announce his decision before Thursday's draw. James Ward is also in contention for the role, but this week’s practice sessions have pointed to Smith favouring Edmund.
“At the end of the day, it still is a tennis match,” said South Africa-born, who now lives in Yorkshire. “Even with experience or no experience, whoever plays is going to be nervous because it’s a Davis Cup final. I think that’s normal. I’ll just deal with it, if I play.”
Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in 2003 was the last player to make his Davis Cup debut in the final, losing the doubles rubber as Australia won 3-1.
Six men have been asked to play their first Davis Cup singles rubbers in the final. American seven-time grand slam winner John McEnroe is the only man in the competition’s history to do so and win.
Britain are aiming to win the Davis Cup for the 10th time, but the first since Fred Perry and Bunny Austin led them to victory in 1936.
World No2 Murray, who in 2013 became the first British man since Perry to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, is set to play in Friday and Sunday’s singles matches and will likely partner brother Jamie in Saturday’s doubles – unless Edmund or Ward pull off an unexpected win in their singles rubber against Belgian No1 David Goffin on Friday.
Security for the tie has been beefed up, with explosives experts, sniffer dogs and a no-bags policy in operation at the 13,000-seater Flanders Expo venue, following the terror alert in Brussels at the weekend.