Davis Cup - Spain Beat GB But A New British Star Is Born; Just How Good Is Captain Leon Smith? Is This Courier’s Year? Djokovic’s ‘Small Medical Intervention’

Great Britain might have gone out 3-1 in the first round of the Davis Cup to Spain, but the talk of The Tennis Podcast was the performance of Cameron Norrie, who beat Roberto Bautista Agut and pushed Albert Ramos Vinolas all the way. Just who is this 22 year-old who had never previously played a professional clay court match before he discomfited two players that had been brought up on the surface? Can he take this form into his ATP World Tour career? And has he shown that college tennis is the way forward for aspiring young British players? His captain, Leon Smith, has been guiding the Great Britain team for the last eight years. We hear from him in conversation with presenter David Law about this latest tie in Marbella, and then the Telegraph’s Charlie Eccleshare joins to ponder just how impressive Smith’s reign has been. Smith’s time in charge is compared to that of Jim Courier, who took over the United States in 2010 and has yet to reach a Davis Cup final. After America’s comfortable win in Serbia, is this the year they go all the way? Away from Davis Cup, wins for Petra Kvitova and Kei Nishikori are discussed, as is the ‘small medical intervention’ Novak Djokovic reported that he had undergone for his troublesome right elbow. The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly throughout the year and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments, in association with Telegraph Sport. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.