Leon Smith leads British tennis renaissance

A stunning victory for Great Britain saw their Davis Cup team recover from a 2-0 deficit for the first time since 1930 to defeat Russia 3-2 and move on to a World Group playoff. When Andy Murray confirmed he wouldn’t be taking part as the tie was too soon after his Miami Masters triumph and interfered with his clay court preparation, hopes of victory looked bleak.

Amazing scenes as Dan Evans clinches victory
Image credit: The LTA

Indeed, much has been made of Britain’s alarming lack of depth, with no players other than Murray inside the world’s top 200. The LTA has come under serious scrutiny in recent years, culminating with the resignation of chief executive Roger Draper, who made little impact on his tenure despite a £640,000 salary.Perhaps the biggest indicator of the LTA’s success is the Davis Cup, and three years after a humiliating defeat to Lithuania, Great Britain’s prospects are looking much stronger as they look to compete with the top nations.

Leon Smith has changed the mentality as Davis Cup Captain, restoring belief in a group of players used to scrapping for wins on the Challenger circuit just to keep their career going. Before Smith came in there was perhaps a sense of entitlement in the team, a feeling that they were too good for the Europe/ Africa Zone Group Two. Now there is a steady optimism as the team slowly rises up the ladder to a far more respectable position.

It is a shame that the tie against Russia received so little media coverage, with viewing restricted to an erratic stream on the LTA website. However, for James Ward and Dan Evans, the heroes of the deciding day’s rubbers, winning under the radar will suit them just fine. The Davis Cup team have used the home advantage to the maximum, choosing fast indoor courts such as the Ricoh Arena against Russia.

The roof keeps the atmosphere bubbling and inspires players who normally have to find all their inspiration from within themselves in front of sparse crowds. The surface ensured that the majority of points were short, playing directly into the advantage of Ward and Evans, who both build their game on a strong, consistent first serve backed by aggressive groundstrokes.

Evans in particular thrives in the Davis Cup environment, and his rout of Evgeny Donskoy was a joy to behold, making a mockery of the 245 ranking places between them. Having held his nerve against Slovakia’s top 40 player Martin Klizan in the deciding rubber last season, Evans fully justified Smith’s late decision to bring him in for Jamie Baker against Russia.

Evans is a mercurial talent, almost disappearing off the tennis radar before causing upsets when representing his country, and it is a wonder he is not in the top 100 based on his national form. With Ward’s comeback victory against Dmitry Tursunov a landmark result for his self-belief, perhaps the new LTA chief executive will view supporting these players to consistently achieve what their potential suggests as one of their priorities.

In terms of doubles, Great Britain are as good as anyone in the world, with a wealth of talent to choose from. Although the news of Ross Hutchins’ cancer was tragic, on the tennis court to be able to replace him with Wimbledon champion Jonny Marray was a luxury. Marray and Colin Fleming is a partnership capable of beating any pair in the world, and below World Group level almost an assurance of a point.

The best news for Leon Smith is that Andy Murray has confirmed he will be available for the playoff in September. With Murray and the doubles team, there is a strong possibility of gaining the necessary three points for promotion. More intriguingly, Leon Smith has a real selection dilemma in who to choose for the final singles spot, with Ward or Evans taking on the role of wildcard capable of causing an upset. There may be a long way to go before Murray has familiar British faces competing on the ATP tour, but the future is looking brighter for a nation aiming for restored pride above all.

Matthew Bugler, Online Sport Editor

What will patriotism look like in 2013?

Imogen Watson discusses what it means to be patriotic in Britain today and shares her predictions for 2013.

After one or two false starts, 2012 was very much a year of flag-waving, national self-confidence and, dare it be said, patriotism here in the United Kingdom. Permit me if you will to put the state of the economy temporarily to one side. If you missed the coverage of the Thirtieth Olympiad and the Diamond Jubilee, you can only have been hiding under a rock; even being on the other side of the world does not constitute an excuse in this day and age with the global interest in these events being quite as it was. So with just under twelve months ahead of us, how can this year match the last? Should it? As a country viewed as somewhat self-deprecating and reserved, does this kind of national recognition even have a place in our everyday society or does it in fact turn us into something we are not?

The Brits are a cool, guarded, polite people; stoicism is our middle name. Everyone personally knows the Queen, perfect tea comes out of the taps, and we spend whole afternoons and evenings down in the pub drinking pints or out on the green playing cricket. This is all true of course only if you were to pay any attention to the rest of the world and, let us be honest here, that is not exactly a key British trait.

Our true eccentricities abounded during the summer months as we floated boats galore down the Thames and scared small children in hospital beds with giant versions of Lord Voldemort and the Child Catcher in the middle of a sports stadium. Someone even let Mr Bean play the piano. The humour and happiness of the London 2012 Games Makers have gone viral, and it seems that even if no one quite understands us, the vast majority of the international community enjoyed the spectacles, at least enough to broadcast them in all types of news coverage.

Photo credits to SouthEastern Star

Moreover, the Union Flag is popular again. In Britain, the British National Party has used it as their logo for years now, yet abroad it is fashionable to wear it on every item of clothing: bags, shoes, earrings, scarves, t-shirts. You name it, and it is out there. It may come as a surprise to know that it is even popular in France, that country which supposedly hates us. So if the rest of the world can love it, it is surely time to continue the trend of 2012 and take it back completely from the hands of the likes of the BNP. It has been a statement of being a racist, but no more. It must become again a statement of tolerance. The flag is ours if we want to use it and certainly not the property of a tiny minority that the majority cannot stand.

 

It is not that we ought to join the ranks of the countries which demonstrate their patriotic tendencies for everyone to see – after all there is only just about room for one United States of America on this planet – as flags around all our public buildings, for example, has simply never been, and never will be, our style. However we ought to lose our fear and embarrassment of proclaiming our national pride when appropriate, now we know our abilities in overcoming last-minute difficulties to put on a show. 

2013 lacks the major national festivities of last year, and therefore opportunities for us to all unite and complain outwardly about everything that we secretly rather enjoy. But perhaps our patriotism is in fact best as it is: subtle and infrequent. It exists in everyday actions and helps make us what we are but big displays are just unnecessary (except the obligatory Last Night of the Proms).  When the British come together in our own slightly bizarre way on an international scale, the surprise and puzzlement of the rest of the world is frankly one of the best bits.  Now we are thoroughly aware of our successes in 2012 and will be able to repeat them when the time comes, without blowing our own trumpets. Instead we just accept it, and move on. So on reflection, then, maybe this article was badly thought-out. Maybe none of this should have ever been said. I apologise – I temporarily forgot how to be British. Please, forget that you ever read this.