Monday, 9 March 2015

It's time Britain talked up the Davis Cup

Despite being a worldwide event, the Davis Cup has consistently failed to capture the imagination of the wider public. Perhaps it is the convoluted format which involves many different "zones" in promotion and relegation groups or perhaps it is because many of the top players have shunned it over the years.

Compare it to golf's Ryder Cup. That's a tournament players will fight tooth and nail to get into a qualifying spot for and fans are glued to the action over the weekend.

Great Britain's 3-2 win over the United States in Glasgow which was completed yesterday could be a potential turning point for interest in the Davis Cup in this country. Tickets for the Emirates Arena sold out within ten minutes of going in sale last November whilst the crowds roared on their hero Andy Murray (and his teammates) to victory in a stunning atmosphere. Now this needs to be capitalised on ahead of the quarter final tie (at a venue TBC) against France in July.

Remarkably Great Britain have a one in eight chance of winning this trophy despite only having one male tennis player in the top 100 of the world rankings in the shape of Andy Murray. 

Since taking over the Davis Cup captaincy in 2010, Leon Smith has performed nothing short of a miracle. His first task was to ensure Great Britain didn't plummet into the lowest depths of the Davis Cup group format, by beating Turkey, which the GB team duly did 5-0.

Since then, Smith has ensured that the country's Davis Cup team has once again become respected with two wins over the USA in the last two years confirming that.

The fact that James Ward, a player who has never been inside the top 100 in the world has managed to beat Americans Sam Querrey (career high ranking of 17) and John Isner (career high ranking of 9) is astonishing. His win over Isner on Friday in Glasgow was even more remarkable considering he came from two sets down against one of the best servers in the game. The nerve and fitness Ward showed in the final set to win 15-13 was something every British tennis fan should have been proud of.

And although they didn't win on Saturday, equally inspiring was Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot's performance against the Bryan brothers Bob and Mike coming from two sets to love down to draw level before losing the doubles tie 9-7 in the fifth.

Whilst there is clearly a massive burden on Andy Murray to win both his singles matches in any tie, captain Smith now has a reliable and hugely spirited team to call upon. Ward has now easily done enough to be considered a Davis Cup stalwart while Murray and Inglot are both in the top 40 of the doubles rankings and had infact beaten the 16 time slam champions, the Bryan brothers twice this year.

Smith's miracle work even extended to a team which didn't feature Andy Murray in it back in April 2013 when Great Britain somehow beat Russia 3-2 after being 2-0 behind after the opening day.

A doubles win on the Saturday from Jonny Marray and Colin Fleming gave the team hope, before Ward then ranked 214 in the world stunned Dmitry Tursunov, a former top 20 player in five sets before Dan Evans, then ranked at 325, beat Evegny Donskoy, who was ranked 245 places above him to complete the comeback.

Now two years on Britain stand a genuine, if still unlikely chance of winning the trophy for the first time since 1936. Andy Murray may well break another long standing record that has unfortunately stood since the heyday of Fred Perry, just like he did when he became the first British male to win Wimbledon for 77 years in 2013.

A 2015 Davis Cup win might not carry the same celebrations and it probably wouldn't even register in large parts of the country but the crowds in Glasgow were fantastic and helped to defeat the Americans. Now more people are needed to turn up the volume for the match against France, which will be tough considering they have Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet on board.

Much has been said of the country not capitalising on Murray's Wimbledon success and much of what has been said is true. If Britain were to win the Davis Cup or even reach the final, that would be a magnificent team achievement against all the odds.

It's time to spread the word about Leon Smith's British team and make them household names.

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