A Look Back at Great Britain’s 33/1 Davis Cup Win

In November 2015 Great Britain won the Davis Cup for the first time in the modern era and since 1936.

They started the tournament as outsiders – those who bet on tennis could have got 33/1 with the bookmakers ahead of their first round tie against 7th seeds, the USA.

Andy Murray had recently moved up to world number 3 after reaching his fourth Australian Open final in six years. But Great Britain had no other household names or players ranked in the top 100 at the time.

Great Britain opened with Andy Murray beating Donald Young in the first rubber and then ending day one with a surprise 2-0 lead and James Ward upset world number 20 John Isner in five sets, winning 15-13 in the decider.

The reliable Bob and Mike Bryan pulled a game back for USA on day two but even they needed five sets, beating Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray 9-7 in the fifth.
On the final day Andy Murray scored a 7-6 6-3 7-6 win over John Isner to seal Great Britain’s place in the quarter-finals before Donald Young won the dead rubber to make the official score 3-2.

Shortly after Wimbledon that year, Great Britain hosted number one seeds and favourites France at the Queen's Club, London.

The tie started off as expected with Gilles Simon beating James Ward in straight sets and Andy Murray tying the scores up for Great Britain at the end of day one with a 7-5 7-6 6-2 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Team GB then went one up over the French with the Murray brothers defeating Nicolas Mahut and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets.

Murray lost the opening set before beating Gilles Simon in four to win the fourth rubber and book a place in the semi-finals for Great Britain for the first time since 1981.

Australia had been 3-2 winners in each of their first two ties, including their victory over number 3 seeds Czech Republic in the first round.

Andy Murray got things off to a simple start with a 6-0 6-3 6-0 victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis before Bernard Tomic beat Dan Evans in four sets to end day one all square.

The doubles again proved key and the Murray brothers came out on top once more, this time defeating Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt in five sets.

Murray came back the following day to beat Bernard Tomic in straight sets to book Great Britain into their first final since 1978, before Thanasi Kokkinakis won the dead rubber for Australia.

Belgium were the other finalists and the event took place at the Flanders Expo in Ghent, Belgium between 27–29 November 2015.

Belgium themselves were 50/1 long shots at the start of the tournament and went into the final as 3/1 underdogs.

Kyle Edmund would surrender a 2-0 lead to lose 2-3 in the opening rubber before Andy Murray levelled the score with a 6-2 6-3 7-5 win over Ruben Bemelmans.

The Murray brothers continued their fine partnership with a four sets victory over Steve Darcis and David Goffin in the doubles match before Andy Murray brought home the Davis Cup trophy for Great Britain for the first time since 1936, with a 6-3 7-5 6-3 win over David Goffin.

The below infographic from Betfair details Great Britain’s history in the Davis Cup: