Great Britain Davis Cup team

Great Britain's first match, and first ever national team match in history, was a 0–3 loss to the United States in 1900.[1] The tournament was not organised in 1901, and Britain lost the following year, but the British won the competition for the first time in 1903.[1] The national team would go on to dominate the competition, winning the next three tournaments.[2]

The postwar period saw moderate results, but British fortunes declined until the appointment of 31-year old Paul Hutchins as captain in 1976.[3][4] He would captain the team for 10 years, and lead the team in 31 ties (a record).[4] He would lead Great Britain to the final in 1978, defeating Australia 3–2 in the semifinal, only to lose to the United States 1–4.[5] Despite losing in the final, the team won (alongside the women's Wightman Cup team) the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award.[5] Likewise, it was the first time the LTA promoted the event.[5] According to The Guardian "Britain has seen a decline in its Davis Cup fortunes ever since [the final]."[5] The next two years saw mixed results, but in 1981 the team reached the semifinals, losing to Australia.[4] It would be their last semifinal until 2015.[3]

Warren Jacques, an Australian, was appointed captain in 1988 as Hutchins' replacement.[6] He was appointed due to his former role in coaching Kevin Curren, the 1985 Wimbledon finalist.[6] However, the idea to appoint a person who was not of the team's nationality was so foreign that the LTA sought "special dispensation" from the International Tennis Federation.[6] The team's results continued to slide under Jacques leadership.[6]

Following the team's 0–5 defeat to France, Jacques was removed as captain and replaced by Tony Pickard.[7] When asked about the defeat, Jacques claimed "We're ten years from being competitive in the Davis Cup."[7] In the ensuing years, under Pickard's leadership, Great Britain would manage to keep its place in the World Group.[3] In 1994, Pickard "delivered a scathing attack on the Lawn Tennis Association's training department and threatened to resign as captain unless his views [were] acted upon" after the team's defeat to Portugal.[8] In response the LTA did not renew Pickard's contract.[9] The team lost the last four matches under Pickard's stewardship, marking the worst performance in twenty years.[9] David Lloyd took over as captain later that year.[9] His captaincy started well, with Great Britain winning the Europe/Africa Zone II, and being promoted to the Europe/Africa Zone I.[3] The team would remain in Europe/Africa Zone I throughout the rest of Lloyd's captaincy.[3]

The defeat to the Czech national team in 2000 led to the resignation of David Lloyd as captain.[10] Before his departure he criticised the British players for not being fit enough.[10] On his departure, Lloyd went on to criticise the LTA and its work.[10] In response John Crowther, the executive director of the LTA, stated they had "lost confidence" in Lloyd's abilities, and appointed former top-10 player Roger Taylor as his replacement.[10] During Taylor's captaincy, the post itself was under criticism, with Tim Henman claiming "It's mainly handing out the drinks and the bananas" since most of the players had their own coaches.[11] Taylor's first match as captain was against Ecuador, in which Britain lost 2–3 at home on grass.[11] The Guardian quipped that "In one hundred years of the Davis Cup there had never been a more embarrassing defeat."[11] Despite this, the team continued to decline in the ranking.[12] In their 2003 match against Australia the team's top player was ranked 163rd in the world; both Henman and Greg Rusedski were hampered by injury, and could not take part.[12]

On 1 January 2004 Jeremy Bates was appointed as team captain.[13] He led the national team to two victories in eight ties, and resigned after the team's 2–3 defeat to Israel.[13] John Lloyd was employed later that year as the team's new captain.[14] He is the brother of David Lloyd, a former team captain.[14] The decline continued, and John Lloyd captained his last match in 2010, when the team lost 2–3 to Lithuania. On his resignation, he stated "Call me old-fashioned, but when is it a convenience, and not a privilege, to play for your country?"[15] He went on to criticise the mentality that Andy Murray did not need to play as long as the rest of the team were not good enough, claiming that neither the British public nor media would accept such a position if Wayne Rooney had used the same argument.[15] Henman backed Lloyd, claiming it would be wrong to fault Lloyd and coach Paul Annacone for the team's bad performance over the years.[16] The problem was structural he argued, and lamented the failure of the LTA to produce talented players.[16]

From left to right: Smith, Ward, Evans, Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray after their 2013 tie against Russia

Leon Smith was appointed as team captain in 2010.[17] His first tie was against Turkey in the play-offs of the Europe/Africa Zone Group II (the second lowest tier in the game) at home in Eastbourne, UK.[17] A defeat would have sent the national team to the lowest tier of the game.[17] Smith picked James Ward, Jamie Baker, Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski to play the tie, and defeated Turkey 5–0.[17] This would mark the beginning of the team's resurgence.[17] In 2011, the team won the Europe/Africa Zone Group II (third division), and was promoted to the Europe/Africa Zone Group I.[17] Andy Murray, who had not played in the 2009 competition, returned in 2010 for the match against Luxembourg, winning 6–0, 6–0, 6–0 against Laurent Bram in the first rubber.[17] Explaining his hiatus, Murray quipped that he "wanted the younger guys to step up and experience it", claiming "There was no use for us being in the World Group because we weren't ready for it."[18] 2012 started well, with a 3–2 victory over Slovakia, but ended with the first defeat under Smith's captaincy against Belgium.[17]

In its second round of the 2013 Europe/Africa Zone Group I the team won from 0–2 down, to defeat Russia 3–2.[17] Both Dan Evans and Ward had lost five setters on the first day, but a victory in the doubles and a five-set win by Ward on the third day, gave way to a straight sets victory in the fifth rubber.[17] It was the first time since 1930 that the national team had managed to win from 0–2 down.[19] In the World Group play-offs that year Murray returned after a two-year hiatus, and helped defeat Croatia 4–1.[17] It would mark the team's return to the World Group, having dropped out in 2007.[17]

In the team's first match in the World Group since 2007, Great Britain won 3–1 over the United States, marking its first victory in the World Group since 1986.[20] The tie was played on clay courts in the United States in the hope that the Americans would defeat Murray on his weakest surface.[20] The team would lose its next tie against Italy 1–3.[21] The team started 2015 in the World Group, and would win the title for the first time in 79 years (last victory was in 1936).[22] On their run to the final, the team defeated the United States, France and Australia before defeating Belgium in the final.[23] It would mark the first final reached since 1978.[23] As defending champions in 2016 the team reached the semifinals, in which they were defeated by Argentina 2–3.[24]