Great Britain v Croatia - Davis Cup World Group Play-Off
21-23 September 2007

Friday (Play starts at 11am)
Andy Murray v Marin Cilic
Roko Karanusic v Tim Henman

Saturday (Play starts at 1pm)
Tim Henman and Jamir Murray v Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko

Sunday (Play starts at 11am)
Roko Karanusic v Andy Murray
Jamie Baker v Marin Cilic

* Ivan Ljubicic pulled out from the tie due to a urinary infection.

There are even more Davis Cup incentives in the air than usual for the World Group play-off between Great Britain and Croatia beginning on Friday on Wimbledon's No.1 Court.

For Tim Henman, whose last competitive occasion this will be before retirement, the incentive is to play well for one final time in the setting and on the surface where he has achieved most of his Grand Slam success.

For Ivan Ljubicic, whose will be playing in his last Davis Cup match after a decade of loyal involvement with Croatia, the incentive is - like Henman - to say goodbye on a winning note, and for both nations there is the incentive that the winner will be guaranteed a place in next month's draw for the 16-nation World Group in 2008.

Though Britain possess a more distinguished Davis Cup record, having been champions nine times (though not since 1936), it is Croatia who are the country with the most impressive recent form. They won the trophy in December 2005, an achievement joyfully hailed in a nation which has existed only since 1991.

This is the first meeting between the two, though Britain played Yugoslavia, of which Croatia used to form a part, seven times between 1938 and 1987, winning three and losing four.

The British team is the strongest they can field, with Henman sharing the singles duties with the 20-year-old Andy Murray, and Andy's older brother Jamie a certainty to figure in the doubles. In contrast the Croatians arrived in London without two of the three players who rank in the world's top 40 - Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic.

Ancic, the last player to defeat Roger Federer at Wimbledon, back in 2002, is sidelined by a shoulder injury, while the 6ft 10in big-serving Karlovic, arguably Croatia's most consistent performer on the professional tour this year, opted out at the last minute, reportedly in dispute over the scale of payments on offer.

So Ljubicic, ranked 12 in the world, will have as his number two singles player the 6ft 5in Marin Cilic, who will not be 19 until next week. If this latest young Croatian giant is regarded as a stand-in, he promises to be a very good one, having beaten Andy Murray in the semi-finals of the Junior French Open in 2005 (and gone on to win the title) and defeated Henman on grass at the Artois Championships three months ago.

In contrast Henman, who has been as high as fourth in the world rankings, has suffered a recurrence of back problems this year and won only six of his 18 singles matches, while the wrist injury which has wrecked Murray's season is well documented, though he has still run up an impressive 27-10 mark in singles, with one title in San Jose.

Murray lost to Ljubicic in the Doha final in January, and in June the Croatian also clocked up his first grass title at the Dutch tournament in 's-Hertogenbosch. Ljubicic leads Murray 2-1 in career head-to-heads and has a 4-1 record over Henman, though they have not met for two years.

Even so, the British captain John Lloyd insists, "I think we have got a great shot, I am very confident." That confidence stems from the advantage he considers Wimbledon's grass courts will give to his team.

While claiming his grass success in Holland this summer was "something I was waiting all my career for" Ljubicic admits "Of course I would prefer to play indoors, my favourite surface, with a roof over my head."

But he revealed he is a man in form by getting to the final of last week's tournament in Beijing, where Cilic also notched up a notable victory over world number four Nikolay Davydenko.

Henman, four times a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, spoke for the whole British team when he said, "All of us feel very comfortable on the grass. I am excited about one last big push before I call it a day and I hope we can get the right result." And with Murray keen to perform well on grass, having missed out on Wimbledon because of his wrist, the odds would seem to favour Britain, if only slightly.
Written by Ronald Atkin