Andy Murray will lead Britain in Davis Cup

The Wimbledon champion led Britain to victory in the United States in the first round and will be key to their hopes in a first quarter-final appearance since 1986.

“It will be a good challenge playing on the clay in Italy,” Murray said of the April 4-6 tie against a home side featuring claycourt specialist Fabio Fognini. “They have some very good clay court players with a passionate crowd behind them. It will be a tough weekend and the games will be tight, but it’s great playing in big matches like this in the World Group.”

Murray, currently trying to defend his Miami title, will be joined in the team by world No. 127 Dan Evans and James Ward (155) with Colin Fleming likely to play the doubles. Ward produced a stunning five-set victory over Sam Querrey in San Diego as Britain won a World Group tie for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The winners will face Switzerland or Kazakhstan in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Lukas Rosol and Radek Stepanek will spearhead holders the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in Japan on April 4-6 as number-one Tomas Berdych is unavailable, the Czech team said on Tuesday.