Great Britain captain Leon Smith says his team have a “really good chance” of winning next year’s Davis Cup if world number seven Jack Draper is fit and available.
British number two Cameron Norrie sealed a place in February’s qualifiers – and therefore a chance to go after the 2026 title – with victory over Poland’s Olaf Pieczkowski on Saturday.
Norrie produced a professional performance, dropping just three points on serve, to win 6-4 6-4 against the world number 484 and give Britain an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five World Group 1 tie.
“Honestly, I think we’ve got a really good chance [of winning],” said Smith.
“It comes down to who is available to play. You need your top players to try and win it – that’s clear. But I hope the players are motivated to play.”
Smith was without British number one Draper in Poland because of a season-ending arm injury that caused the 23-year-old to withdraw from the US Open after a first-round win.
“I think there’s an appetite from our top players to want to play, and of course if you have got someone like Jack [Draper], when he comes into the team and you’ve got a top-tenner, it obviously makes a difference as well,” said Smith.
“We’ve got good depth with Cam [Norrie], Jacob [Fearnley], Arthur [Fery] and there’s others, and with strong doubles options you have a chance.”
Britain last won the Davis Cup in 2015 when Sir Andy Murray was part of the team.
Norrie’s victory to seal Britain’s place in February’s first round came after Wimbledon champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool missed an earlier chance when they lost their doubles rubber.
The world number one pairing, making their Davis Cup debuts, were stunned 3-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6) by Karol Drzewiecki and Jan Zielinski.
That outcome put the onus on Norrie to clinch the tie for Britain or risk the team facing a deciding match, and he came up with the required result to earn high fives from colleagues at courtside.
Britain had needed just one win on Saturday to progress from the tie after Norrie and Arthur Fery, who made his Davis Cup debut in the absence of Draper and Fearnley, won their respective singles matches on Friday.
Defeat in Poland would have meant a February play-off which could have resulted in relegation to World Group 2, but instead they are heading back to the elite level.