Unheralded British youngster Kyle Edmund was to face a Davis Cup baptism of fire when he was scheduled to make his debut in the final on Friday against Belgium's David Goffin in the opening rubber.
The 20-year-old, ranked 100th in the world, will join an elite group, including Pete Sampras, to make their debuts in the final of the team event that Britain last won in 1936.
The last time Britain reached the final in 1978, John McEnroe played his first Davis Cup singles rubber for their U.S. opponents, winning both his matches.
The visiting team's talisman, world No. 2 Andy Murray, will face Ruben Bemelmans in the second rubber of the best-of-five contest on a drop-in claycourt at the 13,000-capacity Flanders Expo.