Sports Blog 17/07/2015: Davis Cup 2015 Quarter-Final Preview – Great Britain vs France, Friday 17th to Sunday 19th July 2015

The Davis Cup 2015 quarter-finals gets underway this Friday, with Great Britain taking on France at the Queen’s Club.

Great Britain overcame the USA in the first round, with Andy Murray’s victories over Donald Young and John Isner helping the team to their first victory in the US since 1935. James Ward was perhaps the true hero, however, with a remarkable 5 set victory over Isner after losing the first 2 sets; Ward was frustratingly forced due to retire, however, against Young despite being a set up due to injury. Luckily, Murray’s two wins and Ward’s impressive comeback against Isner meant that this retirement, and a doubles loss for Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray, couldn’t prevent Great Britain from progressing to the quarter finals.

Last year’s World Group runners-up and 2015 no. 1 seed, France, meanwhile, faced Germany, beating that with the same 3-2 score line as they did in the 2014 quarter-finals. Victory for Gilles Simon over Jan-Lennard Struff in the first match got things off to a great start, as did a win for Gael Monfils over Philip Kohlschreiber. A doubles-win for Julien Benneteau and Nicholas Mahut secured an overall victory for France, meaning losses for Simon and Mahut in the final 2 matches couldn’t halt their progress.



Britain are now aiming for their first David Cup semi-final in 34 years, going out at this point last year to Italy. France, on the other hand, reached the 2014 final, and understandably sit at a France/GB Match Supremacy spread of 0-2. Yet that slim spread doesn’t suggest a dominant French performance, and Britain will fancy their chances of an upset if they can repeat their form from their USA first round.

To do so James Ward will have to pull out all the stops against Gilles Simon. Both reached their best ever finish at Wimbledon this year; Ward saw a 3rd round exit against the unseeded success story Vasek Pospisil (who was eventually knocked out by Ward’s GB teammate Murray), whilst Simon was swept away by Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.

Yet having never met before (at least on the court), their respective rankings (no. 89 to no. 11 respectively) suggest it is hard to look beyond the Frenchman. Though Ward was impressive against Isner, and recently broke into the top 100 for the first time, Simon looks to be in a different league to the Brit, leaving the Frenchman at a Simon/Ward Match Supremacy spread of 15.5-18.5 and odds on favourite for the match at 1/9.



Friday’s second match is a much more familiar affair, as Andy Murray faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In their 13 matches over the years, Murray has won an overwhelming 10 to Tsonga’s 3, the most recent being a fourth round victory in the 2014 US Open, with the most significant easily being the semi-final win on Murray’s 2013 road to the Wimbledon Championship.

Speaking of Wimbledon, both men arguably had a disappointing tournament in 2015. Tsonga slumped to defeat in the 3rd round to the Croatian Ivo Karlovic, a far cry from his French Open semi-final. Murray, on the other hand, had what on paper looks like a great tournament, reaching yet another Grand Slam final. However a transcendent Roger Federer dispatched of the Scot in 3 sets, leaving Murray title-less once again. Yet Murray should be confident of a victory in this Davis Cup match; our Spreadex traders a confident, at least, giving the Scot a Match Supremacy spread of 13-16 over Tsonga. Murray is also odds on favourite to win his match-up at 1/6 to his French opponent’s 4/1.

Make sure to check back at Spreadex for fixed odds and spread betting opportunities for the rest of the weekend’s France/Great Britain quarter-final matches!