LEON SMITH insists he won’t be swayed by emotions when selecting his Davis Cup squad ahead of the return to Glasgow.
The Great Britain squad will take on the United States, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands in Group D of the finals with the matches played at The Emirates Arena.
Despite the obvious Scottish connection with Andy and Jamie Murray in contention, Davis Cup captain Smith has revealed he won’t select his players for any reason other than picking the strongest squad.
Smith – who is in his 12th year in the role – is well aware of the huge appeal of watching the Murray brothers in action in Scotland but ruled out selections based on anything other than merit alone.
“As captain I have relationships in varying ways with all of the players and of course I go a long way back with Andy in particular,” explained Smith.
“But your job is to look at it objectively and to do whatever you can to win and that’s what we’ve got to do. You’ve got to take yourself away from the emotional side and that is why I have got sounding boards across the coaching team that will remove myself from any emotional pull, which I haven’t done in the past and I won’t do in the future.
“You pick it on merit, a multitude of factors; form, matchups against opposition, surface, fitness, health.
“Everything goes into it to look objectively at who is the best for it. All I know is it is a good problem to have that we’ve got such a good calibre of player across both the singles and the doubles.”
Both Andy and Jamie featured in the Davis Cup triumph in 2015 with first round and semi-final matches played in Glasgow. However, with Cam Norrie, Dan Evans, Neal Skupski, Liam Broady and Joe Salisbury in contention for spots on the squad the Scottish brothers face being left out.
Smith, though, is confident whatever the personnel of his GB team turns out to be, the atmosphere in Glasgow promises to be electric with world class tennis on display.
Quizzed on the inevitable wish from Scots to see the Murray brothers back involved in Davis Cup action in Glasgow, Smith said: “I’ve got massively fond memories of what happened in Glasgow.
“I think the atmosphere that was created there was very, very special. Obviously, that was ramped up the fact that you had Andy and Jamie playing in those ties, but you’ve got to pick the team on merit.
“That’s my job is to try and give the team the best chance to win. I don’t know who will play, honestly, I don’t know because they are all great players.
“But regardless of who goes out there, I know the atmosphere is going to be great whether it’s Andy, whether it’s Cam– this guy is No10 in the world and has his Scottish background as well. Dan has been brilliant through Davis Cup years, we’ve got the No1 player in the world in doubles in Joe, Neal, we’ve also got Jamie as well multiple grand slam winner – the list goes on.
“Whatever happens and whoever goes out there I think the fans are going to get – not just from our team – some unbelievable tennis.”
With the return to Scotland on Davis Cup duty in September not only comes huge excitement from fans, but also an air of expectation.
And Smith is confident there will be a similar attitude from his squad to perform and improve upon the quarter-finals exit to Germany in Innsbruck last year.
“We’re not just there to enjoy the occasion and the atmosphere which will be brilliant,” he said.
“We’ve got a team that is really serious about wanting to do well and we can do really well.
“The expectation is there, but the expectation is there from us as well to do well.”
While Murray faces an anxious wait to discover if he’ll make the squad, Smith reckons his influence will be clear to see after inspiring and nurturing the tennis talent in Britain to elevate the standards.
“I think Andy played a pivotal role in giving everyone hope that something was possible,” said Smith.
“He not just did it on the match court winning major titles, he also gave back a lot. That’s the culture you want the others to follow and I’m really, really pleased to see that culture is there.
“That thing that Andy sparked is really important and now we’ve got this nucleus.
“I think if you look at the ranking breakdown of all the single and doubles it definitely will be [the strongest squad we’ve had].”
Leon Smith was speaking as the Davis Cup by Rakuten visited his former tennis club Clarkston Tennis Club in Glasgow on Friday. Tickets for the Group Stage at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow between 13-18 September, are available now at: http://daviscupfinals.lta.org.uk