It took arguably the greatest individual performance in modern Davis Cup history for Great Britain to lift the trophy last year but the opening day of their defence offered indications that the over-dependence on Andy Murray could become less of an issue in this campaign and beyond.
Leon Smith, the team captain, remains hopeful that Aljaz Bedene - the British no.2 and world number 52 who is dual-qualified and has previously played in this competition for Slovenia, the land of his birth - will be given clearance to switch, but with Kyle Edmund, Britain’s next highest ranked player, having picked up an injury, Dan Evans, offered the latest evidence that increasing competition for places and, more importantly, the prospect of singles wins from someone other than Murray, is developing.
Doubtless buoyed by the experience of exposure to such a high class set up Evans believes he is on course to force his way into the world’s top 100 having played as if he was already there against world number six Kei Nishikori.
“That is what I am training towards. I am going the right way at the minute and hopefully it continues but I have got to win the matches to get there,” he said.
Perhaps even telling, though, is the growing stature within the group of the older Murray brother. Where previously the first choice doubles pairing has tended to be Andy Murray and someone else, Jamie can now also be seen as being capable of partnering anyone, while Smith’s explanation of Dom Inglot’s situation and of doubles coach Louis Cayer's influence, also spoke to the creation of a team environment in which the whole adds up to more than the sum of the individual parts.
“If that happens again, that is team sport,” he said of the prospect of having to leave him out in favour of pairing the Murrays.
“I never have a problem with him. The most important thing is to have an open dialogue through the week. We just talk about it. There are no closed-doors conversations or break-away conversations. Cloak and daggers. It is out there and Dom knows.
“We have somebody like Andy who is one of the best players on the planet and somebody like Jamie who is no. 2 in the world doubles, so you kind of know where you are at. It is a huge privilege to be a part of this team and if you get to play, he wants to play, but it is also a big honour to be among the four or five who are part of it.”
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