A new low?

After a fifth defeat on the bounce Britain's Davis Cup team now face the uninspiring task of a relegation playoff against Turkey in September.


If John Lloyd's team lose that tie then it's relegation to the bottom league of tennis into the catchy named Europe/African Zone group III.


In Britain's long history of competing in the Davis Cup it's team has never sunk so low. There is little doubt that interest in the competition has fallen away since Henman's retirement in 2007.


That match which was notably Team GB's last victory was held in front of a capacity crowd on Court One at Wimbledon.


Attending the match their was a sense that following Henman and Rusedski's retirement that the team may struggle to maintain it's position. So it came as no surprise that despite Andy Murray's valiant efforts that the team dropped out of the elite group the next year.


However it is unlikely that many of the crowd that stood to applaud Henman off court that day believed that they were witnessing the teams final victory of the decade.


So where does the British team go from here? Firstly they must overcome Turkey at all costs - a further drop down the tiers of the the Davis Cup would not only inflict further damage on a team low on confidence it would also make the journey back to the world group a mammoth task. As it stands the earliest we can get back to the world group would is 2013 if they lose to Turkey then that becomes 2014.


Questions must also be asked of cup captain John Lloyd. No captain has ever presided over such an unbroken run of failure. Many will sympathise with Lloyd, arguing that he has had precious talent at his disposal. Yet the presence of Andy Murray should have made life much easier but alas to no avail.


Now it's unlikely that the British no.1 will make himself available for the next few ties-and who can blame him? He can have little appetite taking time out of his tour schedule while on the hunt for a maiden grand slam to play ties against teams that fail to boast any players ranked inside the top 100.

Still the position of John Lloyd and Roger Draper will be under scrutiny over the coming weeks and it is unlikley that both will still be in their jobs come September.

Brits miss out on Hopman Trophy

Although Team GB failed to lift the Hopman Cup earlier today both Andy Murray and Laura Robson can take some big positives from the event.

Over the past week it has been a pleasure to see the pair team up together on court. Robson has had the benefit of playing alongside the world no.4 in doubles and against some top players on the WTA circuit.

Her victory in the final against the world no.24 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 7-6 will provide a massive confidence boost and came ahead of the news she had been given a wildcard into the Aussie Open qualifiers.

After coming so close at the US open British fans have been given more cause to be hopeful ahead of this years Australian Open.

It would be fantastic if Robson could join Baltacha and O'Brien in the main draw down under and would highlight the real progress that is being made in the women's game at present.

As for Mr Murray the tournament gave him a chance to prepare ahead of the Australian Open in singles and the rare opportunity to relax somewhat on court in his mixed doubles.


There can be no doubt that he represented the senior party in the pairing but this is a role that Murray has thrived in before. His performances in the Davis Cup last year were excellent and lifted a team that is suffering from an alarming lack of depth.


No one doubts that Murray represents the immediate future of British tennis but perhaps he already recognises that Robson is in the same position that he found himself in 3 or 4 years ago.

It is perhaps a little surprising that it was Murray who suffered a singles defeat against Robredo in the final but he is unlikely to be overly concerned.

The Hopman cup a tournament that has been off the British radar since the days of Jo Durie and Jeremy Bates, provided everything the pair were looking for (except the trophy)!

Here's hoping that we can see the two pairing up together in the near future, perhaps not to win major titles but to foster the sort of camaraderie that has been somewhat lacking in the past.