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Battle of the Brits returns in December as Scotland take on England in Aberdeen

Tournament director Jamie Murray has announced there will be a special Battle of the Brits, Scotland versus England event, at Aberdeen's P&J Live Arena; he will compete alongside brother Sir Andy Murray and face the likes of their Davis Cup teammate Dan Evans

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Jamie Murray discusses the special Battle of the Brits event he's running in December in Aberdeen as he and Andy Murray take on England's top stars.

The Battle of the Brits will return in December with a special Scotland versus England event, which will be held at Aberdeen's P&J Live Arena on December 21 and 22.

Tournament director Jamie Murray will be taking part alongside brother Sir Andy Murray and the tournament will provide Scottish sports fans with their first chance to watch the Murrays play live on home turf since Andy took on Roger Federer in 2017.

The Scotland team, spearheaded by the Murrays, will face tough competition from an England line-up that is set to feature their Davis Cup teammate Dan Evans.

A full list of players will be released in the coming weeks and the event will feature six matches - four singles and two doubles, being played over the course of the two-day period.

Jamie Murray first created the Battle of the Brits as a response to the lack of tournament tennis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This edition will be the fourth tournament in the series after the Schroders Battle of the Brits in July 2020, the St. James's Place Battle of the Brits Team Tennis Event in August 2020, and the Battle of the Brits Premier League of Tennis in December 2020.

To date, the Battle of the Brits events have raised over £100,000 for NHS charities.

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"I am super excited to bring live tennis to Scotland," Jamie Murray said. "Andy and I have had some incredible experiences competing as part of Team GB in Davis Cup in Scotland, but to be able to represent Scotland is such a unique opportunity for us, especially against England!

"I would love to think Andy's and my achievements can inspire a passion for tennis in Scotland and help build a lasting legacy for the sport here.

"Bringing big tennis events to Scotland is a huge part of that - this will be an amazing two days of tennis and entertainment for all the family."

'We're getting older'

After the announcement, Sky Sports News caught up with Murray and dived further into the reasons why he's created this competition.

The tournament director started by reiterating his wish for Scottish fans to enjoy watching himself and brother Andy, play competitive tennis in person.

"For me, the inspiration was to try to create opportunities for us [Andy and I] to be able to compete in Scotland, in front of the Scottish fans… we're getting older as well," he said with a smile.

"The opportunities are becoming fewer as the years ago by, so I wanted to try and make something happen. I'm really excited about it.

Andy Murray has been forced to miss the Australian Open
Image: Andy Murray will take to court in Aberdeen alongside his brother

"Tennis events in England are largely hosted in London and whenever we've been in Scotland everything has been in Glasgow, so we wanted to move it around a bit.

"Aberdeen is a great city and I think for everyone who lives there, if they want to go to a major event then they've got to drive for at least two hours to get involved. It's cool that we're able to bring something to their doorstep.

"Hopefully people come from all over, but also I hope that the local people of Aberdeen will come out and enjoy this event for what it is."

Murray hopeful for fans

Murray, like any tournament director, is slightly cautious in his optimism about fans being able to attend. However, he does hope that by December, Aberdeen's P&J Live Arena will be able to deliver a Davis Cup style atmosphere.

"We're hoping for lots of fans, obviously with the vaccine rollout and everything, we hope that come December we'll be able to hold up to 7,000 fans in the stadium which would be awesome," he said.

Britain's Dan Evans celebrates after defeating Canada's Felix Auger-Alliassime in the final of Murray River Open in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021.(AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
Image: Britain's Dan Evans will play for England against the Scottish team

"We've all missed playing in front of people, that's the buzz and a lot of fun for us, comes from competing in front of big crowds. We've missed that over the last six months or so.

"Australia was a bit better, obviously they had a lockdown mid-tournament which didn't help them, but that's what we want to get back to.

"We want people to have something to look forward to. Things are changing for the better and getting back to thinking about going to events, whether that's tennis, other sporting events or concerts [is a positive thing].

"We're excited about it and hopefully things keep on progressing as they are."

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