Great Britain Davis Cup team lacks star power but we can still thrive, insists Leon Smith

Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith is confident he has the players to fill the void left in the absence of the team’s “headline acts” in Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund.

Both players are absent from the tie against Uzbekistan, which gets underway in Glasgow tomorrow.

Murray has opted to miss the match as he continues his return from hip surgery while Edmund ruled himself out because of illness.

“We are missing our two headline acts, " Smith said.

"But if you look at the team, we have Jamie [Murray] in such great form, Cam Norrie — I absolutely love his story — and Dan Evans has played some very good tennis in a short time since coming back in May.

“Jay Clarke is doing great and we have got a raft of doubles guys including Don Inglot, who is back at 23 in the world.”

Meanwhile, Annabel Croft has insisted the US Open row involving Serena Williams had nothing to do with sexism.

Williams called umpire Carlos Ramos “a liar” and “a thief” after receiving a hefty fine for several code violations during her US Open final defeat to Naomi Osaka.

However, the former British No1 told the BBC: “Had any male player reacted to the way Serena did they would have got exactly the same treatment. I don’t think this was ever a row about sexism.”