2025 marks the 10th anniversary of one of Andy Murray’s greatest achievements, namely leading Great Britain to their first Davis Cup triumph in 79 years, which was even longer than the country had waited for a male Wimbledon winner (a mere 77 years). Sadly for British tennis fans, a decade on from that landmark victory, which held out hope of Davis Cup success for years to come, Great Britain are facing a relegation play-off in September just to stay in the main World Group of the Davis Cup. And that is despite now having far greater strength in depth than when Murray was at his peak.

Despite Greater Depth, GB Are In Davis Cup Decline
10 Years On From Murray’s Historic Achievement

In retrospect, it can now be argued that Great Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup victory was the last great “one-man team” victory in the original format of the tournament. Under that format, which changed in 2019, it was possible for one supremely talented player to play both singles and doubles relatively easily, and win virtually enough points on their own to lead their country to “Tennis World Cup” triumph.

That was what Murray did in 2015, throughout the entire Davis Cup campaign and not just in the final against Belgium. He played singles and doubles throughout that year, when he was probably at his absolute peak as a tennis player both technically and physically. And the “killer stat”, as it were, that shows how integral he was to Britain’s victory was that the only point won by a British player in that entire campaign without him being on court with them (i.e. without being his doubles partner) came from James Ward in an epic five-set singles victory over the USA’s John Isner in the first round. Otherwise, Murray either won all of Great Britain’s points in 2015 outright, or as part of a doubles pairing, usually alongside his brother Jamie.

There had been such “one-man wins” before, notably when Novak Djokovic led Serbia to the title in 2010 and when Ivan Ljubičić was instrumental in Croatia’s 2005 triumph. However, none were quite as remarkable as Murray’s 2015 effort.

Harder Now For “One-Man Davis Cup Wins”

After the format of the Davis Cup changed in 2019, it has probably become harder overall for one single player to make the kind of trophy-winning performance that Murray did in 2015. Although all Davis Cup matches have now dropped down to three-set matches from the traditional five, the ties are more compressed in time than they used to be, usually taking place over two days rather than the traditional three. As a result, if a player is to compete in both singles and, then he will usually have to do so on the same day. Jannik Sinner achieved it in 2023, with his Miracle of Malaga, but it may be beyond most other contemporary players.

Of course that is why it is more important than ever before to have strength in depth if a country is to compete for, let alone win, the Davis Cup. And that is why it is so frustrating for British tennis fans that despite there now being far greater strength in depth in British men’s tennis than there was a decade ago, the country’s Davis Cup results have been in decline almost continuously ever since.

Murray led Great Britain back to the Davis Cup semifinals in 2016 against Argentina, where he and they only narrowly lost after a truly fabulous five-set clash with Juan Martín del Potro. That was virtually the only match that the Great Scot lost at the end of 2016, when he became the only man other than the Big Three themselves to reach World No.1 in The Big Three era. Thereafter, however, other than a run to the semifinals in 2019 that Murray briefly participated in, there has been no substantial success. And now of course the team has reached a new nadir.

Defeat To Japan – But Injury Problems Must Be Borne In Mind

Britain’s Davis Cup-winning Captain of 2015, Leon Smith, could reasonably argue that he was not able to benefit from Great Britain’s new strength in depth against Japan, to whom they lost their first-round match in 2025. He was without both his top two singles players in Jack Draper and Cam Norrie, through injury. And although Jacob Fearnley confirmed all the promise that he had shown at the Australian Open by beating Kei Nishikori in his first singles match, he could not back it up in his second match against Yoshihito Nishioka. And because fellow debutant Billy Harris was unable to win either of his singles matches, GB’s doubles win and Fearnley’s sole singles win were not enough to prevent Japan winning the tie 3-2.

The immediate future for Great Britain is fairly foreboding, in that they will have to win their relegation play-off in the autumn just to stay in the main World Group for the Davis Cup, rather than returning to the regional groups that the country’s men spent so much time in during the wilderness years between Fred Perry’s great team of the 1930s and the 2015 win that Andy Murray inspired.

Beyond that, however, there is genuinely enough strength in depth for British fans to be hopeful for the future and even to dream of a possible return to the semifinals or final of the Davis Cup in the not-too-distant future.

That is because in Draper and Fearnley  Great Britain have not just one possible successor to Murray as a Major and Davis Cup-contender but two. Draper has already reached a Grand Slam semifinal (at last year’s US Open) and Fearnley’s meteoric rise up the rankings since turning professional just over a year ago, allied to his reaching the third round in Melbourne, suggests that he can come close to matching Draper’s achievements in the future.

Just as it will be for their own individual careers, it should be hugely beneficial for Draper and Fearnley to have each other in the Great Britain Davis Cup team. They have not been able to play together yet, but if they can both stay fit for the relegation play-off then Leon Smith can be confident of retaining Britain’s place at the top table of men’s team tennis.

That is also because Great Britain’s greatest area of strength is in the doubles, where they are arguably the strongest nation in the tennis world. In addition to Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, who played and won in Japan, there is also Henry Patten, who has now won two of the last three Major doubles tournaments alongside Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, after the pair followed up their Wimbledon triumph last year by winning in Melbourne last month. And in addition to those three Major-winning doubles players, there is still the great Jamie Murray in reserve if injury or illness necessitated.

It is for those two main reasons – the near-simultaneous emergence of two great young singles players in Draper and Fearnley, and Great Britain’s great strength in depth in doubles – that Leon Smith can have hope for the future and continue to justify his continuation as the Great Britain Davis Cup captain. But now all hinges on the relegation play-off in the autumn. If Great Britain win that, they can look forward to better times ahead. However, if they should lose, they will have completed the ignominious fall from Davis Cup triumph to Davis Cup relegation in just over a decade.

Main photo credit: Andrew P. Scott-USA TODAY Sports