Here we go. Jack Draper, in his first Davis Cup match, starts off with ball in hand, he will serve first.

Colin Fleming
Former British tennis player on BBC TV

I wouldn't say surprised [Kokkinakis was picked] but there was definitely a decision to be made for Lleyton Hewitt. Kokkinakis going to be taking on Jack Draper for the first time, the two have never met.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport at Manchester Arena

A crowd of about 9,500 fans are 'losing themselves' as the two squads walk out into Manchester Arena.

Eminem provides the soundtrack as the Brits are introduced, with all five players and captain Leon Smith receiving huge ovations.

Cracking atmosphere as Manchester welcomes the Davis Cup for the first time since 1994.

That tie was played at the Northern Lawn Tennis Club in Didsbury, a grass surface in the south Manchester suburb.

The city's main arena, which has welcomed many of the planet's biggest musical stars and can hold up to 21,000 fans, is quite a contrasting setting.

We have had the national anthems, the players have been introduced to a large crowd at the AO Arena in Manchester and we are nearly ready to get going.

What a day for 21-year-old Jack Draper, who will be hoping to get Britain off to a winning start against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

France beat Switzerland in the opening match of Great Britain's Davis Cup Finals group.

Adrian Mannarino lost the first set against Dominic Stricker but prevailed 3-6 6-1 6-4 to give France the lead in Group B.

Ugo Humbert then beat Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-4 as France took an unassailable advantage before they also won the doubles for a 3-0 victory.

Tuesday, 12 September: Sweden 0-3 Chile (A), France 3-0 Switzerland (B), Serbia 3-0 South Korea (C), Netherlands 2-1 Finland (D)

Wednesday, 13 September: Canada v Italy (A), Australia v Great Britain (B, 13:00 BST), Spain v Czech Republic (C), Croatia v United States (D)

Thursday, 14 September: Canada v Sweden (A), Australia v France (B, 13:00 BST), Czech Republic v South Korea (C), Netherlands v United States (D)

Friday, 15 September: Italy v Chile (A), Great Britain v Switzerland (B, 13:00 BST), Spain v Serbia (C), Croatia v Finland (D)

Saturday, 16 September: Canada v Chile (A), Australia v Switzerland (B, 13:00 BST), Serbia v Czech Republic (C), United States v Finland (D)

Sunday, 17 September: Italy v Sweden (A), Great Britain v France (B, 13:00 BST), Spain v South Korea (C), Croatia v Netherlands (D)

The top two from each group move on to the knockout stages in Spain at the end of November.

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain's squad includes three players - Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Andy Murray - ranked in the top 45 in the world, while Skupski won the men's doubles at Wimbledon in July alongside Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands.

Jack Draper was the last man added to the squad after he was the best performing Briton in the singles at the US Open, reaching the fourth round before losing to Russia's Andrey Rublev.

Australia are without Nick Kyrgios because of a wrist injury, while their strength in depth is shown with top-50 players Alexei Popyrin and Aleksandar Vukic not being included.

Alex de Minaur is 12th in the world, while Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis are inside the top 80. Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden won the men's doubles at Wimbledon in 2022.

France have a mixture of youth and experience with 19-year-old Arthur Fils, an ATP Tour winner at the Lyon Open in May, alongside doubles specialists Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 39, and Nicolas Mahut, 41.

Top 40 players Ugo Humbert and Adrian Mannarino are also in the French squad.

Switzerland won the Davis Cup in 2014, but no longer have the retired Roger Federer to call upon, although three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, who was in their victorious side nine years ago, again features.

Dominic Stricker, 21, defeated Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2023 US Open before losing in the last 16, while their side also includes Marc-Andrea Huesler and doubles specialists Alexander Ritschard and Leandro Riedi.

Four nations received automatic qualification to the Finals group stage - last year's winners Canada, runners-up Australia and wildcards Italy and Spain.

They have been joined by 12 qualifiers - Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Serbia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and United States.

The nations have been divided into four groups of four. Group A plays in Bologna, Italy, Group B in Manchester, Group C in Valencia, Spain, and Group D in Split, Croatia.

Each tie features two singles matches and one in doubles. The top two in each group after the round-robin phase will move into the knockout phase.

Britain need to finish in the top two of the four-team group, played from 12 to 17 September, to make it through to the final stages of the competition in Malaga, Spain, from 21 to 26 November.

The big news to start us off is that neither Andy Murray nor Cameron Norrie will be in action today for Great Britain.

Jack Draper, 21, who reached the fourth round of the US Open earlier this month starts off against Thanasi Kokkinakis before Dan Evans faces world number 12 Alex de Minaur. Evans and Neal Skupski are then in doubles action against the pairing of Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.

• Jack Draper v Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Dan Evans v Alex De Minaur
• Dan Evans / Neal Skupski v Matthew Ebden / Max Purcell

Hello and welcome along to BBC Sport's coverage of the Davis Cup Finals group stage tie as Great Britain take on Australia.

We will have live coverage on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and you will be able to watch all the action in this very page.

Eight years ago, this happened...

Image source, Getty Images

For the first time since the 1930s, Great Britain won the Davis Cup with Andy Murray instrumental in that success.

Murray is back in the British squad this week as they look to progress out of the Davis Cup Finals group stage and keep their hopes of more glory alive.