GB hope to avoid ‘FA Cup giant-killing’ in Davis Cup

Great Britain must beat Poland in Gdynia over the next two days to have a chance of winning the Davis Cup next year.

The world number seven Jack Draper is unavailable for the World Group 1 tie because of injury, but Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley will have a huge ranking advantage over their opponents.

It feels like a Premier League side being drawn away to a non-league team in the third round of the FA Cup.

World number 34 Norrie will play 19-year-old Tomasz Berkieta, ranked 545th, in the first of Friday’s singles. Then Fearnley, who is 54th, follows on against Olaf Pieczkowski, who stands at 484.

Straightforward? “It doesn’t often work that way,” warned the GB captain Leon Smith.

“If you look at tennis as a sport, I think more than football in a way, guys ranked 400 or 500, they are playing to a good level.

“We do go in as favourites, but you have to be very respectful of the opposition, which we are, and very professional, which we have been.”

The world’s number one doubles pair, Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash, will make their debut in Saturday’s doubles, which will be followed by two reverse singles. Arthur Fery, aged 23, is the fifth member of the team.

Poland are without their top two singles players. The 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz has knee troubles and Kamil Majchrzak had to retire from his third-round match at the US Open because of a chest muscle injury.

Draper will miss the rest of the season because of bone bruising in his serving arm, which led to his withdrawal from the US Open.

Captain Smith says the British number one had been planning to play in Gdynia, but his team have made “the right call”.

“He was keen to come here and that was the plan, so it’s a shame that he’s not here,” Smith told BBC Sport.

“But more importantly for him, I feel for him. The momentum that he had built in that first part of the year was exceptional and he’s had a few challenges before, but he will come after this.

Even when players are fully fit, it can be hard for team captains to secure their services, as Davis Cup ties are regularly played the week after a Grand Slam.

Andy Murray played sparingly for three years in his early 20s, when GB were outside the World Group, but Smith is optimistic Draper will continue to want to play for the team.

“I get the feeling that the players want to be part of this,” he said.

“We, at the LTA, and the players here, you can tell they value this, they value coming together.

“Our job this weekend is to try and keep in the top group so we can try and win it next year, but there are clearly more conversations that need to be had about the scheduling, to try and get those players that are going deep in the Slams.

“If you want them to play, asking them for a few days turnaround – sometimes to travel extremely far or change surfaces – that’s going to be difficult.

“So I get the feeling there is a strong appetite to represent your country in Davis Cup, but there is some work to do in the formatting.”

A torn bicep and illness has prevented Norrie playing Davis Cup since the 2023 quarter-final with Serbia.

The 30-year-old has already played 22 tournaments this year, but says Davis Cup weeks are “very different”.

“It’s always one of my favourite weeks, playing for your country,” he said.

“It’s such a great group of guys and girls – it’s just exactly what I want to be doing.

“It’s a very different week to a week on the tour. It’s almost like another rest – it’s such a precious week.