Davis Cup: Glasgow Emirates Arena to host Great Britain vs Australia tennis semi-final

Glasgow's Emirates Arena will host Great Britain's (GB) attempts to reach a first Davis Cup final for 37 years against Australia, the Lawn Tennis Association have confirmed. Britain's first semi-final appearance since 1981 will see them return to Scotland's second city, scene of their second round victory over United States in March. Since being opened in 2012, the 8,200 capacity Emirates Arena has a short sporting history but did host the Badminton competition at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The Leon Smith-led GB team overcame France in the quarter-finals at Queen's and now face 28-time winners Australia for a place in their first final since 1978, with the tie being staged between 18-20 September. As hosts, GB are given the right to decide the venue and sees them revert to indoor, hard court conditions against an Australian team which defeated Kazakhstan in the last eight and would be expected to include former world number one Lleyton Hewitt.

"It's exciting for the team to be going back to Glasgow," world number three Andy Murray told LTA.org.uk. "It's always special to play in front of a home crowd and we are fortunate to have played our last three ties at home. We had a unique atmosphere in Glasgow, the crowd was unbelievable. It's going to be a huge week for our team and we'll be doing everything we can to get GB through to the final."

Captain Smith added: "We have had incredible support any time we played at home, none more so than when we played in Glasgow. Playing indoors allows the noise level to go through the roof and will give our team the ideal platform they need to get inspired. This will be important against a nation with the Davis Cup pedigree of Australia as we try to reach the final of competition for the first time in nearly 40 years. To bring all our fans together, I would like to ask anyone supporting us to wear Blue or Navy over the course of the weekend and make as much noise as possible."