This result is just the first stepping stone in a long road, says Smith

Captain Leon Smith hopes that the result against Turkey can be the platform to rebuild the state of the men’s game in this country.

The 34-year-old Scot has also been handed the daunting task of being in charge of men’s tennis and realises that this result is only one of hopefully many.

He said: “The feeling of losing five in a row was not great. This is only one step in the right direction, and we realise that, it is not a question about getting carried away. The guys have done a great job here but it is one step, hopefully we are all really focused on. I think you can see that the way the spirit is on the court and on the bench. Everybody is united to improve the men’s game.”

Prior to the win against Turkey, there had been nothing but negatives coming out of British tennis, especially since the loss to Lithuania in March, which was then followed up by disastrous performances at Wimbledon. Smith believes that this could potentially kick start a fresh winning mentality which will hopefully carry the British players forward to the higher echelons of the sport.

“The important thing is that it is job done here it is now over to the players and the coaching teams to build momentum for the rest of the year, said Smith.

“The Davis Cup job is done until March and now it is a question of working on their own games looking to make an impact in Futures, Challengers, Tour qualifier’s and hopefully some Tour events. It is up to them to start building momentum and keep improving their games over the next six months.”

Players such as James Ward and Jamie Baker have yet to make a significant impact on the tour but over the past couple of months and especially this weekend have began to find their form.

Smith said: “They did well yesterday and now they go away with great confidence in winning in what was a pressured situation and they have come out on top. Importantly now they can build on that for the rest of the career.”

The added news that British no12 Richard Bloomfield reached the semi finals of the ATP tour 250 tournament in Newport, Rhode Island after coming through qualifying perhaps showed that the positive waves are beginning to spread.