Murray walks in Fred Perry’s footsteps again.

GB into the World Group Quarters after Querrey suffers double defeat from Ward and Murray

It was 79 years ago in 1935 that Perry led GB to their last victory over the USA at The All England Club, Wimbledon. Having ended 77 years of hurt for Great Britain when Murray followed him as Wimbledon champion last year, Murray followed in Fred’s footsteps again by giving his team an unassailable 3-1 victory over the USA.

Back in 1935 the match took place at Wimbledon, this time it was on a clay court laid on the left outfield of the San Diego Padres baseball stadium with a Budweiser logo prominently in shot for the TV cameras and on Superbowl weekend too – (well done Seahawks and anyone in the UK who stayed up until 3am to watch!)

Murray’s extraordinary Davis Cup achievements aside; 18 straight singles wins stretching all the way back to his very first appearance in 2005; it was

James Ward, ranked at 175 in the world, who produced the result of his career beating Sam Querrey in 5 sets and from 2 sets to 1 down. With Querry ranked 130 places above him it wasn’t exactly a dream result for Team USA led by the strangely suited and booted Jim Courier.

And is it just me, but just like Courier’s suit, does the Davis Cup need a serious re-brand and image update? How about an Olympic legacy along the lines of some great kit for starters? Then some thumping music and a little pzazz and excitement?! Come on ITF! Olympics aside, this is one of your great properties and great visibility for British Tennis and the LTA at a time when it is much needed. www.itftennis.com

Changes are needed in tennis given that fact that with Murray’s success both at the Olympics in 2012 and winning Wimbledon in 2013, the fact is that British tennis participation has fallen from 423,400 in April to 406,000 in October 2013. Tennis had a funding cut imposed in 2013 by Sport England of £530,000 and could lose up to 20% of its £17.4m 4 year award this year unless changes are made.

Conversely cycling has increased by 137,000 participants in the same period fuelled by Bradley Wiggins in the Tour de France and London 2012 and Chris Froome in the 2013 Tour.

If Murray continues to make himself available, (the vote for Scottish independence aside), there is no reason why Great Britain cannot go even further; starting with their quarter-final against Italy from 4-6 April, then a possible match against Kazakhstan or Switzerland in September.

The Italians are sure to want to play on clay and they will be formidable opposition with established top 40 players Fognini and Andreas Seppi to call upon.

Given that the LTA now has a new CEO – well done Michael Downey on your first victory – surely it is time for a fresh new dialogue with tennis fans and a new image for British Tennis. http://www.lta.org.uk/

With all this Davis Cup success, and new leadership with a new CEO and a highly experienced CCO, I am sure the future of British Tennis will be exciting. Roll on April, September and hopefully November.