2013 Eastbourne Tennis Wiki

An attempt at a first Davis Cup World Group win since 1986 was the objective in sunny San Diego, California. In front of the British team, including Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund, James Ward, and doubles pair Dominic Inglot and Colin Fleming would be a testing American line-up, fronted by 6ft 6inches of Sam Querrey, World Number 79 Donald Young, and the ever-present, ever resilient Bryan brothers.

The ankle issue for John Isner, current US number one, which kept him out of the Australian Open, would see him a spectator for the weekend showdown in San Diego.

Before all that, though, let’s take a journey back to July 2010, in Eastbourne, where Great Britain was facing the prospect of relegation to Davis Cup’s lowest tier. Ice creams, sun hats, the smell of sun-cream, as a gentle breeze created calm waves in the sea, although British tennis was anything as. Below the sun-kissed sunglasses, all eyes were on Great Britain against Turkey.

Baker, Ward, Skupski and Fleming were a part of a team on the brink. British tennis was in a position only cynics dared to imagine. A comprehensive 5-0 victory papering over the cracks, it seemed, yet it was a moment where the turnaround begun.

It was one of those moments in careers, where in hindsight you can pinpoint as the time the tide began to turn for the better. Great Britain’s coach then and still, Leon Smith, stated clearly after this moment that, “This job is done although we have to move British tennis forward. This is just a start.”

On its backside, British Tennis was attempting to stand again. For this to happen the strongest available were needed, and the return of Andy Murray to the mix in 2011 was the perfect remedy. This helped to steer the British to three straight Davis Cup wins in group two against Tunisia, Luxembourg and Hungary respectively, ensuring promotion to Europe/Africa zone group one.