Andy Murray paired with Kyle Edmund for Davis Cup final in Belgium

Murray, the world number two and the inspiration behind Britain’s march into the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1978, will then take on lowly-ranked Ruben Bemelmans, who will take centre stage after playing provincial club tennis in France last week. Murray then plays Ruben Bemelmans, who was surprisingly picked over higher ranked Steve Darcis. On Saturday, the Murray brothers will play Darcis and Kimmer Coppejans, though the Belgian line-up could yet change.

Britain are trying to win the 115-year-old competition for the 10th time, but the first since Fred Perry led them to victory over Australia at Wimbledon in 1936.

Amid a security lockdown mandated by the government of Belgium to protect its capital from anticipated terror attacks, British tennis fans have nevertheless poured into the country this week, ahead of the Davis Cup final starting on Friday.

The indoor clay surface would certainly not be what Britain would have chosen while 13,000 fans, 90 per cent of them Belgians, will be packed into the Flanders Expo. “I trust everyone in the team, from all of the staff to all of the players”.

This is the 12th Davis Cup meeting between the sides, too; the only other encounter in the last 50 years, however, came three years ago when Belgium beat Britain in the quarter-finals.

Seven of GB’s nine wins were won in just one match – they also got a bye to the final in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1934 and 1935 with five of those six matches at home.

Edmund reached the second round of the French Open – on clay – in May, while Ward’s best grand slam effort came on grass at Wimbledon a month later when he won two matches.

Edmund will become only the sixth player to make his debut in the final since the challenge round of the competition was axed in 1972. I know they put in a lot of work even before that.

Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a return to Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Monday, Nov. 16, 2015.

Edmund said: “This is definitely going to be the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of”. The experience I’ve had closest to it is probably in Paris in my first round when I beat Stephane Robert in front of a loud French crowd.

The Yorkshireman, 20, has been handed the task of playing the opening match against Belgium No. 1 David Goffin. It’s a new experience for me.

But the 28-year-old Scot, who is likely to team up again with brother Jamie in what could be a key doubles rubber on Saturday, said he was confident he would be up to scratch by Friday.

“But I know they wouldn’t miss it because they’ve watched us so passionately throughout this whole campaign”.

“I don’t think Andy does justice in presenting himself”. This at the end of a gruelling season that saw him finish the year number two in the world. I think it will be a little bit like a carnival. Not only just for the security, I think it’s important for us as a team. “But it’s a good problem and it’s exciting”. The only thing that we can say with any certainty is that no matter what happens in Ghent, it will be a Davis Cup final for the history books.

The final is a basic best-of-five match series between the two squads of four players, with each player only allowed to partake in one game on each day. I think that’s what the players deserve to get when they get on court.