Rusedski tipped to replace John Lloyd as Davis Cup captain

GREG Rusedski has been tipped to take over from John Lloyd as Davis Cup captain after Great Britain slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat against Lithuania last weekend.

TIME TO RECONSIDER: Great Britain Davis Cup captain John Lloyd (l, with coach Paul Annacone) admits he will reconsider his role with Greg Rusedski tipped as a replacement (Getty Images)

Lloyd admitted he would reconsider his role after becoming the first British captain in 110 years to suffer five consecutive defeats and The Times newspaper reported Rusedski has been sounded out about replacing him.

Canadian-born Rusedski has made little attempt to hide his ambition to captain the team and is well-suited to the role having captained the junior Davis Cup side and as current coach of British number three James Ward.

The humiliating 3-2 defeat to Lithuania means Great Britain will face Turkey in a playoff to remain in the Europe/Africa Zone group II - the third tier of the tournament.

The Lawn Tennis Association have denied they have officially approached Rusedski, who made 43 Davis Cup appearances for Great Britain over 12 years.

But after witnessing Dan Evans slip to a five-set defeat against world number 521 Laurynas Grigelis to lose the tie, Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper admitted changes would be made.

"I share the deep disappointment and frustration at this result," said Draper. "Five defeats in a row is unacceptable.

"I have asked LTA player director Steven Martens to review the performance and result, and report back to me and the LTA board as soon as possible.

"That review needs to be swift and decisive as it is clear some real improvements need to be made."

Lloyd's appointment was one of the first moves by Draper when he took over four years ago.

But after winning the first three matches with Lloyd at the helm, the British squad have slipped from the World Group to the brink of relegation to the fourth and bottom tier of the competition in just three seasons.

There were signs of resurgence as Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski ended a miserable three-year wait for a Davis Cup doubles win and British number three James Ward won his debut singles tie.

But without British number one Andy Murray, preparing for the first ATP Masters tournament of the season in Indian Wells, the squad were unable to pick up the second singles victory they needed.

And Lloyd admitted he would reconsider his role after the defeat.

 "I'll ask myself, ‘did I screw up or could someone else do a better job?" said Lloyd.

"I don't do this just to walk around in a tracksuit saying, ‘I'm the Davis Cup captain'. I'll need to have a think about things.

"I'll go back over the week and ask myself what I could have done better and what the players could have done better.

"I actually got a buzz out of this whole tie - maybe I'm a masochist - but there was some stunning tennis out there, especially today."