Britain complete clean sweep in Davis Cup
It is doubtful whether the result will have sent a shudder through those teams competing in the World Group, but Great Britain duly completed their 5-0 victory over Turkey.
The Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie entered the area of formality once Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski won their doubles rubber in straight sets the day before but that did not stop the home team from pressing home their superiority at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne.
Jamie Baker made it 4-0 for Britain with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tuna Altuna, playing in place the injured Mersel Ilhan, who was competing in a Davis Cup rubber for the first time. And the Turk acquitted himself better than the result might suggest. He broke Baker in the opening game but, having gone 3-1 down, Baker took seven games in a row and eased his way to his victory.
James Ward then completed the whitewash with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ergun Zorlu, who has lost all three of his matches in straight sets.
The win in the tie has arrested the alarming decline that has gripped the British team in recent years and does provide Leon Smith, the latest man to take the poisoned chalice of team captain, with a measure of breathing space. Whether his masters at the Lawn Tennis Association deserve similar treatment after years of presiding over an organisation that has singularly failed to provide a framework within which it is possible to produce players of sufficient quality, and numbers, to mount a serious challenge to the elite nations is another matter.
The absence of Andy Murray from the Davis Cup team in recent ties is a debate that has polarised opinion. However, given the way that Britain struggled at times because of a lack of depth within the team when they could call on the world-class resources of both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, is it reasonable to expect the Scot to answer his country’s call until there is a credible level of support?
Those notions were not foremost in the thoughts of Ward (pictured) as he reviewed a successful weekend’s in Eastbourne. "I love it here, it's a really nice court to play at, the ball bounces high, all the guys have put in a great effort this week," he said.
“I've just been building on each week and looking to get better. Hopefully it [my ranking] will get to top 100, but there's a process to go through and it takes a lot of hard work.”
Britain’s next Davis Cup tie will be in March 2011 and, if this is not to be a false dawn, a lot of hard work lies ahead.
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