Sport

The 2023 Davis Cup is coming to Manchester’s AO Arena this September

Commonly called the 'World Cup of Tennis', it's one of the biggest sporting events of the year. Get in.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 28th March 2023

After nearly three decades since it was last played here, the Davis Cup is returning to Manchester later this year and we can’t wait.

The international tennis tournament hasn’t visited Manchester since Team GB played Romania in the Europe/East Africa group tie back in 1994, but now the AO Arena is set to host a group stage for the 2023 Davis Cup Finals in September, with the three other European hosts still yet to be announced.

Great Britain failed to advance into the knockouts of last year’s competition and will have to do without Andy Murray this year after the 35-year-old was omitted from the squad due to injury concerns.

Nevertheless, with the likes of Cam Norrie, Dan Evans and rising star Jack Draper named in the five-man squad, they stand a great chance of going far in this year’s tournament.

Read more:

Team GB’s Davis Cup squad for 2023 is completed by the ATP’s world number one and four double players player Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury.

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The Director of Major Events and Digital for the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), Chris Pollard, said: “It’s particularly important to us to take these major events around the whole of Britain… therefore opening up our sport to more people and helping change perceptions of tennis across the country.”

With the AO Arena matches being played between 12-17 September, the draw to see which of the 16 qualified nations will fall into each of the four groups is set to take place tomorrow (29 March) at 3pm GMT and streamed live on the ITF YouTube channel.

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City Council Leader, Bev Craig, called the AO Arena’s Davis Cup games “a major coup for Manchester which further underlines our credentials as a great sporting city. We look forward to giving top-class tennis players and fans of different nations a warm Mancunian welcome.”

She went on to say that the event is not only exciting for tennis fans but it will serve as “a boost for the city’s economy” and “provide a legacy of inspiration which will encourage more people to get out there, use our city’s high-quality facilities and maybe even become the Davis Cup stars of the future”.

That’s what we like to hear.

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The final eight teams will progress to the knockout stages in Malaga on 21-26 November; here’s hoping our Brits are amongst it! You can grab your tickets HERE.

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Featured Image — Cameron Norrie/Jack Draper (via Instagram)