Andy Murray’s brilliance in Belgium was the billboard story but Leon Smith’s captaincy of Britain’s victorious Davis Cup team also demands high praise. Smith, who had the courage to speak out about the Lawn Tennis Association’s mishandling of the sport, radiated a steely calm throughout the long quest to lift the trophy for the first time in 79 years.
Describing himself as “bang average as a player”, Smith was nevertheless an impressive strategist, harnessing Murray’s talent without allowing the team to feel like a one-man band.
Smith described himself as a 'bang average' player, unlike Andy Murray
Smith assumed the captaincy in 2010 ahead of Greg Rusedki and was largely unknown outside tennis. In his first match he saved Britain from relegation to the lowest tier with a 5-0 win against Turkey and then began the long task of raising the team’s ambitions and commitment. Tunisia, Luxembourg, Hungary and Slovakia were other victims as Britain became the dark horses of Davis Cup tennis. Thus Murray returned to a team already on the ‘up’, and supplied vital world‑class quality to an operation already transformed by Smith.
In Ghent, for the final, Britain were a tight fighting force, with Smith setting the tone and the Murray brothers dispatching the hosts with three successive wins. And the next day, when he might have played it safe, with future job prospects in mind, Smith put the ball right on the toes of the LTA. Clearly, he is a born leader.
Murray and Smith hope to guide Great Britain to a first Davis Cup title since 1936
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