Great Britain
Dan Evans was a surprise inclusion in the Great Britain team on Thursday Getty

Great Britain take on Australia in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup with Andy Murray and Dan Evans preparing to take on Thanasi Kokkinakis and Bernard Tomic respectively in the opening rounds.

Where to watch

Evans v Tomic will be available to watch live on BBC2 with live coverage also available via the BBC Sport website. Their match will take place after Murray v Kokkinakis, which is scheduled to begin at 1pm (BST).

Preview

Evans, 25, received his call up just hours before the draw on 17 September, receiving the nod ahead of James Ward and Kyle Edmund by virtue of having played more tennis this summer, according to GB team captain Leon Smith.

An injury Edmund suffered after a heavy fall in training earlier in September is likely to have been the biggest influence in the decision to bring in Evans. While Ward would have also seemed to be a logical choice given his pedigree in this competition, he has lost his last 10 matches, making his best grand slam run at Wimbledon this year seem a distant memory.

Edmund's inclusion is not the only surprise in this tie. Tomic and Tennis Australia clashed as recently as July when the 22-year-old accused the governing body of failing to even pick up the phone and check on his recovery while he was sidelined with a hip injury. Tennis Australia responded by labelling the behaviour of the world number 23 as "unacceptable" and was subsequently left out of the Australia team that bested Kazakhstan in their quarter final in July. Tomic, meanwhile, celebrated his month off by getting arrested in Miami.

The spat appears to have been resolved, though, and Tomic can now help his country progress into the final – if he can find his way past Evans. That is something he could not manage when the two met in the US Open in 2013, where the Brit sealed a 1-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory to reach the last 32 of the competition. If Britain are to win their first Davis Cup since 1936, a repeat of that win would not go amiss.

Betting odds

Dan Evans 9/2 v Bernard Tomic 1/7

Head-to-head record

Evans 1-0 Tomic (US Open, 2013)