YOU sense when speaking to Leon Smith that he can't quite believe how well it has all turned out for him.

The 39 year-old has transformed himself from a decent Scottish player into one of the most influential men in British tennis. It is a quite remarkable ascent. Smith is in his sixth year as Davis Cup captain and has reinvigorated the British team in a manner that was unimaginable when he took up the role. It has led to him being called the saviour on more than one occasion.

When Smith was appointed in 2010, the British team was at a low. They had just lost to that well-known tennis powerhouse Lithuania and had sunk to the depths that was the Euro/Africa Zone Group Two - a division that most tennis fans did not even realise existed. Smith's first match in charge was against Turkey - not exactly a glamour tie - but his charges ran out comfortable 5-0 winners and the resurrection had begun.

Five years and 11 matches later (having lost just two of those), Britain are preparing to play a World Group quarter-final match for the first time since 1986. Smith has been credited with much of this success but it was close to being so very different.

"The position of Davis Cup captain became available and there were talks about who was going to get the job - it didn't even cross my mind that it could be me," he recalls. "I was working with junior players and I didn't consider it a possibility that I would even be considered but the LTA had been looking at all the options and they said to me that they wanted me to do it. Initially, I said no. They left it for a week and then came back to me. By then I had thought about it more and I changed my mind - I took the job on."

It is fair to say that Smith was not afforded a rapturous welcome by the British press when his appointment was announced. Considering the stars who were being mentioned, the name Leon Smith did not exactly give cause for hope and while he expected something of a backlash, he did not anticipate the vitriol that came his way. He describes the reaction as "understandable but still pretty awful to have to cope with," yet he admits the experience toughened him up.

"The press was talking about the fact that I hadn't been a player or a coach on tour - I knew everyone was reading it and I just was thinking, 'this is so embarrassing'. And at the beginning, I was massively insecure about the fact that I hadn't been a player but the criticism was completely understandable so it wasn't actually hurtful. I got where they were coming from so I had to keep saying to myself, 'why am I doing this? I'm doing this to get GB back to the top division of Davis Cup'."

At the time of becoming Davis Cup captain, Smith was unknown outside of the tennis world - he left school with few qualifications and, as a good Scottish player, decided at 18 years-old that tennis coaching was the most viable career path for him. He cites a good work ethic and the right personality as his main attributes as a young coach trying to find work. But then he got a request that would change the course of his life.

"One day, Judy [Murray] asked me to come through and hit with Andy - he was about 11 at the time," he recalls. "That was literally someone unlocking the door and saying, 'do you want to go through it or not?' So I went along..."

It went well. Smith worked with Murray throughout his teenage years and admits that he was learning as much along the way as the boy who was his charge. Having never been a professional player nor a coach on the tour, Smith soaked up information from everyone he came across - established figures such as Paul Annacone, Bob Brett and Paul McNamara. It was to prove an invaluable education for the Scot - his career began to go from strength to strength.

Smith joined the LTA in 2007 as coach to the under-16 and under-18 squads and has not looked back.

Despite his lack of experience as a professional player, his success is not wholly fortuitous though. Smith is eminently likeable; it is, perhaps, his greatest asset and it is apparent when observing Britain's Davis Cup matches just how highly the players regard him - the team spirit which has been cultivated in recent years has been credited wholly to Smith although the winning also helps.

He also constantly talks of planning meticulously and learning at every opportunity which is a mentality that has served him exceptionally well so far. He places great importance on aiding his fellow coaches' development too, inviting them to Davis Cup ties and allowing them to observe the build-up so they can replicate that level of professionalism and hard work with their own players.

When I ask him if he has different attributes to someone who is a former professional player, he pauses before replying. "I think I do have different qualities because I'm not an ex-player," he says. "Because of that, I have to think about things slightly differently. Listen, it's always better to have been a player, to have been in those situations out on court. Yeah, I think that I've probably had to work harder in some ways to get where I am because I've not been a player on tour but then in other ways, I've had the chance to travel with the guys and get to know them which might not have been the case with an ex-player and that's really helped in Davis Cup."

Smith now holds several roles within the LTA in addition to being Davis Cup captain. He is head coach of Men's Tennis which involves working with players from around the age of 15 and he has also recently started working in Scotland, running workshops to educate coaches and players about what is needed to reach the top of the sport.

A few ambitions remain though. "There are some things that I haven't done that I would like to do - I'd like to be a coach on the tour - that's one thing," he says. "And at some point, I'd like to be in charge of a whole programme - maybe Britain, maybe somewhere else -- where I've got full responsibility for the programme. I've spoken before about being back in Scotland - that's something that would appeal to me. Tennis in Scotland is something that I care about a lot and something that I'm very passionate about."

Smith, it seems, can do no wrong. He will lead Britain out at Queen's Club in July for their Davis Cup tie against France with the prospect of reaching the semi-finals very real indeed. "It's been a bizarre journey and I never thought it would end up like this," he admits. "If someone had told me I'd be Davis Cup captain, getting the chance to work with Andy Murray - I do sometimes think that it's unbelievable, of course I do." It might just get even more surreal in a few weeks time.