Manchester’s AO Arena will again host a group stage of the Davis Cup Finals in September, the International Tennis Federation has confirmed.
A record crowd for the competition in this country of 13,000 saw Leon Smith’s Great Britain team triumph in a nail-biting tie against France last year to book their place in the Final Eight event in Malaga, where they lost to Serbia in the quarter-finals.
The ITF all but announced in November that Manchester would again be a host city and that has now been rubber-stamped, with the challenge for organisers to try to boost crowds for the non-GB ties.
Britain will find out their three opponents for the group stage, which takes place from September 10-15, at the draw next Tuesday.
LTA director of major events and digital, Chris Pollard, said: “We are delighted to bring the Davis Cup Finals group stage back to Manchester again this September.
“We saw first-hand how the fans embraced the event and how their support helped our team win their group in 2023.
“We are looking forward to working with our partners at Manchester City Council and Marketing Manchester to make the Davis Cup even bigger and better this year, helping open up our sport to many more people.”
Britain were given a wild card into the group stage along with Spain, while champions Italy and runners-up Australia also avoided having to play in last month’s qualifiers.
Bologna and Valencia join Manchester as returning hosts while Zhuhai will also stage a group despite China not being among the 16 competing nations.