Baker and Ward will lead GB in Davis Cup

SCOTLAND’S Jamie Baker and Londoner James Ward will lead Great Britain’s bid for victory against Russia in the Davis Cup at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena next weekend in the absence of Andy Murray.

The world No 3 has made himself unavailable for the tie on an indoor hard court as he prepares for the clay season, so captain Leon Smith has chosen the British numbers two and three for the Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie.

Ross Hutchins is also unavailable as he continues to undergo cancer treatment so his regular doubles partner, Colin Fleming, will team up with Wimbledon champion Jonny Marray.

The winner of the tie will go forward to a World Group play-off in September but, without Murray, it would take a major upset for that to be Britain.

Ward is ranked 208th with Baker a place behind, while Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev has named two top-100 players, Dmitry Tursunov and Evgeny Donskoy, in his side along with former top-35 player Igor Kunitsyn and 20-year-old Victor Baluda.

Scot Baker has been dogged by injury and returns to the side for the first time since Britain beat Tunisia in Group II two years ago.

The 26-year-old qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open in January but his only match wins since then have come at the third-tier Futures level.

Ward, also 26, climbed into the top 150 last season and reached the second round at Wimbledon but a broken wrist brought an early end to his year. He has had some encouraging results this season, reaching a Challenger final in Australia, but has never won a Davis Cup match in Group I.

Britain’s best chance looks to be in the doubles rubber. Fleming has won his last seven Davis Cup rubbers and has teamed up with Marray on the tour in Hutchins’ absence.

Smith said: “We look forward to the challenge of competing against a very strong Russian side and, with the advantage of a home crowd supporting the team, we hope we can make life as difficult as possible for the opposition.”

If Britain lose they will face a relegation play-off later in the year to avoid dropping back into Group II.

Who they face and when will be determined by next weekend’s tie between South Africa and Poland.

A South Africa win would see Britain heading to Slovenia in September – a tie Murray has committed to playing in – but a Poland victory would necessitate an extra match between South Africa and Slovenia, with the loser then hosting Britain in October.