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Great Britain take on France in search for Davis Cup glory

Great Britain haven't won the Davis Cup for nearly 80 years. France have tasted success in the competition much more recently than that. They last won the title in 2001 and were beaten finalists last year. The nations go head-to-head on the grass courts at the Queen's Club in London.

Andy Murray will lead Great Britain in their Davis Cup quarter-final against France.
Andy Murray will lead Great Britain in their Davis Cup quarter-final against France. Reuters/Paul Childs
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It's less than a week since the Wimbledon finals. And while Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic may well still be gazing at their respective trophies, some of the leading men are back on the grass courts in London.

The Davis Cup quarter-final between Great Britain and France is being played at the Queen's Club in west London, a brisk forehand drive away from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club where the third grand slam tournament of the year was held.

Both countries boast semi-finalists from this year's Wimbledon in their rosters. Andy Murray, the 2013 champion at Wimbledon, will lead the hosts. Richard Gasquet, who was defeated by eventual champion Djokovic, will be in the attack for the French.

In the opening match on Friday, James Ward will play Gilles Simon. That will be followed by Murray against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Britain's Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot are scheduled to face Nicolas Mahut and Richard Gasquet in Saturday's doubles, although formations can change up to one hour before play.

The omission of Gasquet in the singles was one of the surprises in the prelude to the tie.

Arnaud Clement, the France captain, said he was lucky to have three players in the world's top 13 along with the veteran Mahut who won the doubles tournament at the Queen's Club just before Wimbledon.

"Richard just needs a little more time for recovery after his semi-final last week," said Clement.

"Gilles and Jo had a little more time to prepare for the tie, so that's the reason. They are all very close and for me it's a logical choice."

By contrast Britain do not have such riches although they have a two-time grand slam winner in Murray.

Leon Smith, Arnaud's counterpart, said: "That's the advantage the French have. They've got such a strong team."

Britain are trying to reach the World Group semi-finals for the first time since 1981 while France are frequent visitors to the latter stages of the men's team competition. They lost in last year's final to the Swiss team of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka and were runners-up in 2010.

Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Australia have it all to do if they are to win the trophy for a 29th time. They trail Kazakhstan 2-0 going into Saturday's doubles match in Darwin.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina take on Serbia and in Ostende, Belgium host Canada.

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