ITF

ITFWORLD WINTER 2015 23 www.itftennis.com A rise Sir Andy, king of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas (for 2015, at any rate) and Britain's national treasure. When the New Year's honours list in his country is being compiled, there will be a strong lobby for one A. Murray of Dunblane to get the old tap on the shoulder with the Queen's sword. It was Murray, after all, who led Great Britain to its first Davis Cup victory since 1936 and won every point for the champions as Britain beat Belgium 3-1 on the clay court of the Flanders Expo in Ghent. Britain had waited patiently for 76 years to see one of its own win a Grand Slam tournament (that man Murray winning the US Open in 2012). When they saw that, they dared to hope that maybe, just maybe, he could end the 77-year Wimbledon drought and, sure enough, in 2013, he beat Novak Djokovic on Centre Court to become the first man since Fred Perry to lift that famous trophy. But the Davis Cup? No, that was beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Murray was a champion but to win the Davis Cup, Britain needed a team. They needed lots of Murrays. Fortunately, Andy's mother Judy presented the world with two sons. Britain did, indeed, have lots of Murrays. She had also encouraged and mentored a promising young coach in Scotland called Leon Smith. What she could not have imagined was that 18 years after she first persuaded Smith to hit with her two lads, Smith would captain Britain's winning team and her two sons, Andy and Jamie, would dominate the final. So what about that knighthood? "I think everyone deserves one." Andy Murray said an hour or so after the final and still looking a little stunned. And that is the secret of Britain's success: team work. Murray is the star of the show, the world No. 2 and a Grand Slam champion but the next man down the pecking order in the singles is Kyle Edmund who, ranked No. 100 in the world and still only 20 years old, was making his debut in the final. He made a decent fist of it, too, taking the first two sets from David Goffin in the opening rubber before the enormity of what he was doing began to twang on his nerve endings and Goffin shook off his stage fright and got to work to earn Belgium's first — and only — point. But as Andy Murray pointed out before the final started, it is not just about one man winning a point or two; it is about doing your best for the team, no matter what the result. That is all Murray asked of himself and it is all Smith asked of his team. The records will show that the younger Murray brother won 11 live rubbers in 2015 but the man himself was at pains to point out that Dan Evans almost beating Australia's Bernard Tomic in the semifinal was a vital part of the journey and that James Ward, dropped in favour of Edmund for the final, had more than done his part by beating USA's John Isner in the first round. And none of them could have won had it not been for the support team, from Roger Dalton, the stringer, to Matt Little, the fitness trainer — everyone in the team had played their part and every one of them was a winner. In the case of Britain's team, the sum was far greater than the parts. That said, Smith knows who carries the greatest burden in Britain's Davis Cup campaigns — it is that man Murray again. "He's just incredible," Smith said of his star player. "But he'll be the first to say that this is a team effort, and rightly so. What he's managed to do for this team is astonishing, to post that many wins in one year. He's put his whole body, his whole mind, on the line every single time for the team. Really it's incredible. We're all grateful and proud of him. Home hopes rested on David Goffin's shoulders Jamie Murray improved his Davis Cup doubles record to seven wins in ten matches

• Cover