Leon Smith has had four wins in four ties as the AEGON Great Britain team captain but is aware that his toughest test yet will come today when his team contest the Davis Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group 1 campaign against Slovak Republic.
While Smith's record looks impressive on paper, his team's victories have all come in Group 2 – the third tier of the competition – against opposition whom Britain have been expected to beat. This is the first tie in which Britain have been underdogs, a role they assumed the moment Andy Murray ruled himself out of the tie. While the world No.4 kicks off his training block in Florida with Ivan Lendl this weekend, he will have to hope his compatriots can raise their game at Braehead against higher-ranked opponents.
Dan Evans, the 21-year-old world No.276 who returns to Davis Cup action for the first time in two years, will open up at 3pm against Lukas Lacko, the Slovak No.1 who rose to No.65 in the ATP Tour entry rankings after reaching his first tour final in Zagreb last week. He also made it to the last 32 at the Australian Open. James Ward, ranked 158, will then face Martin Klizan, ranked 120, in a match which will be crucial if Britain are to have any hope of securing a second-round tie at home against Belgium in April.
While the rankings show a gap between the sides, the Davis Cup often throws up a surprise or two as players rise to the occasion through being part of a team playing in front of a vocal crowd. Smith hopes a combination of that, and his extensive video analysis, can help his players.
"The rankings show there is a bit of a gulf in terms of where we are at the moment, especially with the run Lacko has been on since the start of the year," said Smith. "He has done really well. What we have done is look at the opponents really closely and spent a lot of time working through the video analysis. We got a lot of footage from the Australian Open which has been really useful.
"As a group, we look at it and agree on patterns of play which we think can help us close the gap, but expectations need to be in check as this is a very good team we are playing against. For me, it's a question of the guys going out there, expressing themselves, playing smart tennis, play some of the strategies we looked at and play free."
In the absence of Murray this weekend, Ward takes on the mantle of the leading player for Britain, a role which he feels comfortable with. "I expect myself to put up a good performance and I know what I am capable of," he said. "Martin is ranked higher than me so maybe he is expected to win, but it is another good chance for me to play my game and see what I can do."
(GB names first)
TODAY (3pm start)
Dan Evans v Lukas Lacko
James Ward v Martin Klizan
TOMORROW (1pm)
Colin Fleming & Ross Hutchins v Filip Polasek & Michal Mertinak
SUNDAY (1pm)
Evans v Klizan, Ward v Lacko (substitutions permitted)
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