Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens turned into free fan village for the 2023 Davis Cup

The 2023 Davis Cup is officially underway in Manchester this week and with the group stages of the Finals taking place at the iconic AO Arena, just around the corner at Cathedral Gardens, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has decided to turn the space into a big fan village.

And it’s all completely free to enjoy.

Cathedral Gardens becomes home to various events throughout the year — Festa Italiana, MIF, sometimes the ice rink during the Christmas Markets etc. — and so with our city hosting the Davis Cup for the first time in nearly 30 years, LTA jumped at the chance to use the space for their fan village.

The ‘World Cup of tennis’ is taking place from 12-17 September and you can make the most of this wonderful free space whilst taking in all the action right here on the home court.

Turning the historic little corner of the city into a mini-Henman Hill, the organisers of this year’s event have posted up just behind the Corn Exchange and on the grass right outside the National Football Museum.

As well as being able to enjoy the tournament on the big screen, which will be showing all the games played here in Manchester, you can also soak up the Davis Cup atmosphere with free-to-play mini-courts, a number of interactive booths and other activities, as well as plenty of merch and food, of course.

After popping down for Great Britain’s first game against Australia on Wednesday, 13 September, the place was packed with kids on school trips enjoying the four free courts and the deckchairs were full of people watching the big screen.

We’ll certainly be soaking up the atmosphere on our lunch breaks for as long as it’s there, with the space open to the public from 11am-7pm every day until the competition is over.

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Our boys got off to a great start this week by beating last year’s runners-up 2-1 on Wednesday, with youngster Jack Draper delivering a hard-fought victory against Thanasi Kokkinakis before British number two Dan Evans dispatched Alex De Minaur with ease.

GB did lose their doubles match 7-6(5), 6-4, with this year’s Wimbledon champ Neal Skupski teaming up with an already depleted Evans, both of which still put the Aussies through their paces and nearly saw the team walk away with a clean sweep.

We are still yet to face Switzerland (Friday) and France (Sunday) for a place in the November knockouts but after a strong round of opening fixtures and with Andy Murray restored to this year’s squad, they stand a really good chance of going all the way — the Scot seems to think so, anyway.

Speaking to media even before Wednesday’s games, the 36-year-old said, “We have a great group of guys, I love being part of this team, we’ve got great staff as well. Everyone gets on extremely well. I do genuinely believe the team can win the event.” It remains to be seen how much Murray will play.

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Featured Image — LTA/Supplied