Leon Smith says Andy Murray must earn his David Cup place, despite it being played in his native Scotland.
Great Britain will face the USA, Kazakhstan and Netherlands in Glasgow in September, with Murray likely to be a huge draw for the crowd.
Murray’s singles ranking has improved this year with him currently sat just outside the top 50 in the world. That still only makes him the British number three though behind Cam Norrie (12) and Dan Evans (33).
However, Murray has vowed to committing to improving his ranking before the US Open at the end of August in an attempt to be seeded, and Smith has suggested that may be what is required for him to come into genuine Davis Cup contention.
“[It’s not just the] problem and difficult decision around who gets to play on each match-day – in the two singles and the doubles – even just picking the squad takes a lot of thought,” Smith explained.
“I’ve got relationships in varying ways with all of the players. I go a long way back with Andy, in particular, but my job is to look at it objectively and to do whatever I can to win.
“You pick on merit. You pick on a multitude of factors – form, match-ups against the opposition, surface, fitness, health… everything goes into it.
“All I know is that it’s a good problem to have that we’ve got such a high calibre of player across both the singles and doubles.”
Andy Murray promoted a fresh enthusiasm in the UK for the Davis Cup in 2015 as he led Great Britain to the title.
It created a fervour in the country for tennis that is rarely seen away from Wimbledon and Smith says that, whatever happens, no one should forget the role Murray has already played.
Whoever Smith picks, though, he says Britain will have its strongest ever Davis Cup team.
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“Andy Murray played a pivotal role in giving everyone hope that something was possible,” Smith said. “He didn’t just do it on the court – winning major titles – he also gave back a lot.
“That’s something with the culture that you want the others to do. I’m really pleased to see that culture is there.”
“What Andy sparked is really important and we now have this nucleus. Is it the strongest squad? If you look at the ranking breakdown of all the singles and doubles, yeah, it definitely will be.
“Regardless of who goes out there, I know the atmosphere is going to be great, whether it’s Andy or Cam Norrie.
“Dan Evans has been brilliant through Davis Cup years. We’ve got the No 1 player in the world in doubles, Joe Salisbury. We’ve got Neal Skupski, Jamie (Murray) – a multiple Grand Slammer.
“Whatever happens, and whoever goes out there – not just for our team, but others in the group – the fans are going to see some unbelievable tennis.”
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