Archive September 13, 2025

Great Britain captain Leon Smith says his team have a “really good chance” of winning next year’s Davis Cup if world number seven Jack Draper is fit and available.

British number two Cameron Norrie sealed a place in February’s qualifiers – and therefore a chance to go after the 2026 title – with victory over Poland’s Olaf Pieczkowski on Saturday.

Norrie produced a professional performance, dropping just three points on serve, to win 6-4 6-4 against the world number 484 and give Britain an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five World Group 1 tie.

“Honestly, I think we’ve got a really good chance [of winning],” said Smith.

“It comes down to who is available to play. You need your top players to try and win it – that’s clear. But I hope the players are motivated to play.”

Smith was without British number one Draper in Poland because of a season-ending arm injury that caused the 23-year-old to withdraw from the US Open after a first-round win.

“I think there’s an appetite from our top players to want to play, and of course if you have got someone like Jack [Draper], when he comes into the team and you’ve got a top-tenner, it obviously makes a difference as well,” said Smith.

“We’ve got good depth with Cam [Norrie], Jacob [Fearnley], Arthur [Fery] and there’s others, and with strong doubles options you have a chance.”

Britain last won the Davis Cup in 2015 when Sir Andy Murray was part of the team.

Norrie’s victory to seal Britain’s place in February’s first round came after Wimbledon champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool missed an earlier chance when they lost their doubles rubber.

The world number one pairing, making their Davis Cup debuts, were stunned 3-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6) by Karol Drzewiecki and Jan Zielinski.

That outcome put the onus on Norrie to clinch the tie for Britain or risk the team facing a deciding match, and he came up with the required result to earn high fives from colleagues at courtside.

Britain had needed just one win on Saturday to progress from the tie after Norrie and Arthur Fery, who made his Davis Cup debut in the absence of Draper and Fearnley, won their respective singles matches on Friday.

Great Britain’s 2025 campaign is over and they can begin looking ahead to next year. The draw for the 2026 competition will take place after the eight-team Finals in November.

The first round of qualifiers in February 2026 will be contested by 26 nations who compete in 13 ties across two days. Winners go through to the second round later in 2026, where a wildcard team joins them to allow for seven ties.

Winners from the second round then progress to the Davis Cup Final 8 showpiece event, alongside hosts Italy, with a chance to win the title.

Norrie survived a scare on Friday in a tight contest against Tomasz Berkieta, ranked 511 places below him, to get Britain off to a winning start.

But with the tie in Britain’s grasp, the world number 34 produced an efficient performance against Pieczkowski.

A break in the ninth game of the first set proved decisive as Norrie held his nerve to serve out the opener to love.

As he did against Fery on Friday, Pieczkowski showed signs of fatigue in set two while Norrie’s level did not waver and he won every point behind his own serve.

The 30-year-old seized his one and only break opportunity in the seventh game and held serve from that point on without any concerns to wrap up a polished victory and put the tie to bed.

“I’d never experienced something like that before – watching that third-set doubles match, either we’re done and there’s no pressure, or the pressure quadruples and it’s all on me,” Norrie said after his win.

“I was a bit stressed watching that third-set tie-break.”

Norrie’s result will have come as a relief to Cash and Glasspool, who had started well in the doubles but ultimately lost out in a dramatic tie-break.

They were perhaps feeling the pressure of representing their country for the first time in Davis Cup, as well as the effects of a hectic campaign which has included historic wins at Queen’s and Wimbledon before their recent shock first-round exit from the US Open.

Dan Evans, a member of Britain’s triumphant 2015 Davis Cup squad, said of the doubles pairing on Tennis Channel: “I have to be honest, I thought the British guys together as a team were pretty poor. They were not as one out there.

Nottingham Forest head coach Ange Postecoglou says he “cannot afford to waste time” as he seeks to implement a new style of play at the club.

The Australian’s first game in charge ended in an emphatic defeat with a 3-0 loss away at Arsenal.

The 60-year-old was appointed as Nuno Espirito Santo’s successor on Wednesday and vowed to build a side in his image.

While there was evidence of stylistic changes against Arsenal, Forest managed just one shot on target against the Gunners and registered a lower expected goals (xG) than in any game Premier League match under Nuno.

Asked how long it will take until we see a Forest side playing in his image, Postecoglou said: “Wednesday mate (against Swansea). I can’t afford to waste time, this is not a project.

“I’m not going to let it take long, we’ve got an unbelievable opportunity to make an impact.”

Martin Zubimendi, a £50m summer signing from Real Sociedad, scored either side of an effort from Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres to move Arsenal to the top of the table.

“Losing 3-0 is tough to take but it’s the first game under the new manager and there are a few positives to build on,” the midfielder told TNT Sports.

“We only had one session together so it was tough to put things into the game but I’m sure more will come.

“Postecoglou said in the changing room just to trust him and we’ll get back on the training ground and look at things, ideas we can improve on – we’re all focused.

“We’ve got the players in the changing room to do what he wants to do so we all just need to believe in it, put things into practice and we’re positive it’ll pay off.”

Forest finished seventh under Nuno last term, earning the club a place in the Europa League after Crystal Palace’s demotion.

“To consider the fact it was only a couple of years ago that they were in the Championship and it’s been 20-something years since they were last in the Premier League, now they’re going to be playing in Europe,” former Man City defender Nedum Onuoha told Final Score.

“You’re talking about a side who are openly trying to win trophies at this level, it’s a good time to be a Forest fan but you hope for Postecoglou’s reign it doesn’t feel too extreme in terms of the change.

Postecoglou’s first game in charge of Nottingham Forest has to be assessed in a measured fashion given he is one week into the job and facing an Arsenal side almost six years into their project.

The Australian has had limited time to put his stamp on this Forest side but a few differences were evident pointing to the direction Postecoglou might look to take Forest.

The most obvious was starting with a back four. It appears the 4-4-1-1 that Postecoglou has deployed across his career is to be maintained.

Stylistically, Forest aimed to build in a slower fashion – looking to establish territory higher up the pitch, rather than playing the more direct, counter-attacking style that was successful last season. Data from Opta showed that their ‘direct speed’ – how quickly they move the ball from defence to attack – was their joint-lowest for a game in the league since the start of last season.

Out of possession, they set up in what looked like a 4-2-3-1 shape and defended in a man-marking fashion. We will have to see more from Postecoglou to know if this man-to-man approach defensively is something they persist with or if this was specific to Arsenal given their quality and rotation-heavy style.

Nuno by comparison tended to set Forest up in a zonal fashion (meaning each player defended specific zones, rather than following individual players) but did use a man-to-man defence at times against the league’s top teams.

Forest’s defensive line was set higher up the pitch than under Nuno, but they were punished for this with Gyokeres’ strike. Arsenal exploited a long pass over the top of the defence for Eze to run on to as Forest failed to apply pressure on the passer. Naturally, Forest’s collective understanding of when to push up and apply pressure will improve with time.

Lastly, the biggest difference between Postecoglou’s tactics today with how he has set up his teams at previous clubs was the use of full-backs. In build-up, Forest played in a fairly standard 4-3-3 shape with full-backs starting in wide positions rather than inverting into midfield as has been the norm in his sides. Was this a short-term tactic given the lack of preparation time?