Andy Murray is the perfect role model and British tennis has a responsibility to capitalise on his success, according to Leon Smith.

Smith, the Davis Cup captain and head of men's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, was speaking at the launch of the 2017 Tennis for Kids programme.

The initiative was launched earlier this year, with 13,290 children introduced to tennis with a free racket and coaching course, almost half of whom have continued to play the sport.

Read more: Hero's welcome helps Andy Murray beat Marin Cilic at ATP World Tour Finals

Next year 20,000 children are being offered places, and Smith, who along with his players called for British tennis chiefs to do more to leave a legacy following the Davis Cup triumph a year ago, is optimistic.

He told Press Association Sport: "This is about being able to sell our sport, inspire the children into this game and that's worked well with half the kids staying in tennis so that's a really good sign.

"With the numbers that we're looking at for the 2017 programme, that could be very encouraging indeed."

In many ways, British tennis has never been in better shape, with seven top-100 singles players and the likes of Johanna Konta, Jamie Murray and Kyle Edmund achieving big things.

But the numbers coming through behind them remain small and Smith knows Murray is the trump card if that is to change.

"He's created so much exposure," said the Scot, who coached Murray between the ages of 11 and 15.

"There's a responsibility for British tennis, the LTA, to come up with programmes that will captivate that audience and get them on the tennis court and then stay on it. It's something you can't take for granted.

"When I talk to my own kids it's non-stop. Okay they have to watch it on the TV quite a lot but they absolutely love watching him.

"Where Andy separates himself is he wears his heart on his sleeve on the court. People can see that and those messages you give to kids about giving your best effort, chasing every ball down, they see it.

"If you walk into any school, okay I live in Scotland so literally everywhere is Andy Murray and Jamie Murray, but across the UK, everybody's talking about him. Some of these kids haven't played before but it's 'Andy Murray, Andy Murray'.

"Everyone's immensely proud of him. It is an incredible story and when I think back to when I was picking him up from his house in Dunblane, sometimes using the courts at Stirling University but quite often using the courts at Dunblane or Bridge of Allan. Just small, outdoor clubs. What makes it special is it's a very normal background."

Murray will be back on court at the O2 Arena on Wednesday afternoon for his second round-robin match of the ATP World Tour Finals.

After winning reasonably comfortably against Marin Cilic in his first official match as world number one, Murray could book his place in the semi-finals with victory over Kei Nishikori.

This will be a third meeting of the year between the pair, with Murray having won easily at the Olympics but had long five-set tussles with Nishikori in the Davis Cup and at the US Open.

He came out second best in New York at the end of a draining summer and knows Nishikori, who beat Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 on Monday, represents a big threat.

The Scot said: "To win against a player like Stan with that scoreline, I don't think Stan had really any chances on Kei's serve either. He obviously must have played very well.

"I would say this is probably his best year that he's had on the tour. He's one of the best players in the world. He's been playing very well, the last few months especially."

Murray must out-perform Novak Djokovic this week to hold onto top spot in the rankings heading into 2017.

The Scot turns 30 in May but Smith expects many more highs to come, saying: "There's no doubt he's got years left in him and he's so driven.

"The goals are obvious. He really wanted to be number one in the world. He's got there now, he'll want to hang onto it. He's got other slams to win. Knowing Andy he does everything possible to make those incremental gains to be the best and he'll keep doing that.

"When this season's over, even though he's played so many matches, his pre-season will be specific, it will be hard work, and he'll be getting ready to try to win in Australia. That's the measure of the man, he keeps striving for excellence."