Lloyd's era begins from lowest point

TENNIS

There are two success stories in the British game: the organisation of the Wimbledon championships and David Lloyd's flourishing empire of recreational tennis centres. Lloyd will now endeavour to build bricks without straw.

As yet another disappointing Davis Cup excursion drew to a close with a 5-0 whitewash by the Slovak Republic here yesterday, Lloyd succeeded Bill Knight as the captain and prepared for a relegation play-off against Monaco at Eastbourne in July.

Having recruited its fiercest critic as a motivator, the Lawn Tennis Association is not exactly brimming with talent to be motivated, as six consecutive defeats have shown.

Tim Henman and Miles Maclagan, whose determination on the clay court was the saving grace of four-set defeats by higher ranked opponents, Jan Kroslak and Karol Kucera respectively, on Friday, lost the two "dead" rubbers in straight sets yesterday. Henman and Neil Broad had failed to keep the tie alive, losing Saturday's doubles match against Kroslak and Kucera, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

Lloyd's first task is to avoid a catastrophe even worse than last year's defeat by Romania on grass in Manchester, which this time would consign the Brits to Group III of the Euro/African Zone to exchange shots with the likes of Moldova, Benin, Cameroon and San Marino.

"It won't happen, I can guarantee that," Lloyd said. "It's a different situation. We've got the whole four weeks leading up to Wimbledon, and if I can't get them super fit, super hungry, then we have no chance.

"I honestly can't believe they won't come out and give a tremendous performance. And my yardstick is not winning, but winning without losing a set. The boys have got to set themselves a task, which is winning love, love and love.''

Lloyd intends to name eight or nine players a month before the match and select those who show the best form and fitness. John Lloyd, the captain's brother, will coach the squad, and Greg Isaacs, a South African trainer, based in California, will work on physical conditioning and movement.

Another Greg may be involved, one with the speed of serve to trouble the best on the faster surfaces. Greg Rusedski's probable transfer from Canada appears to be nearing a resolution, and there is a suggestion that the International Tennis Federation might be persuaded to declare the tall left-hander eligible in time for Lloyd's first match.

Lloyd will again try to convince Jeremy Bates, the nation's No 1, to reconsider his retirement from the competition, and rejoin the squad if only as a doubles player,and Mark Petchey, the No 2, will come back into contention as the scene moves from clay to grass.

Though impressed by elements of the team's performance during the weekend, Lloyd did not minimise the shortcomings in technique and attitude.

"I honestly think if they had won that first set 6-0 in the doubles yesterday [Henman and Broad had two break points for 5-0] they would have won that match," he said. "They just didn't quite crunch their advantage. When you're on top, you bloody stamp the guy out, you really do.

"It's something they've got to learn, not just in Davis Cup but in all matches. That's when the psychological swing comes in, when you're not talking about who's better, you're talking about who's stronger mentally. Some people have got it by nature. It's a nasty streak really, in a way.

"I think if Maclagan could be a very good clay-court player. One criticism I would make is that he didn't quite have the variety that the other guy [Kucera] did. He didn't serve and volley quite enough, he didn't come in quite enough on the slice, which he's got to learn. Henman made a few too many errors on his forehand.'

And Broad's girth? "He would probably say that he's half a stone or maybe three quarters of a stone too heavy, but he's a very good doubles player.''

Instilling winning ways is not easy. "Two things I think we make mistakes on," Lloyd said. "One is that we're desperate to get players on the ranking list, and put them into tournaments where they are not in the right standard. Therefore they lose, and lose and lose. I think sometimes you've got to actually spoonfeed wins to get their confidence up.

"And I'm not convinced that the excuse we've made that we don't have clay is any reason why we can't play on clay. Yes, it would be nice to have all the surfaces, but I think that playing on clay actually is a mental difference, not a shot difference.''

With regard to his employers, the former maverick promised "to still say what I believe to be true, but I'll say it behind closed doors''.

DAVIS CUP Euro-Africa Zone, Group Two: Slovak Republic 5 Great Britain 0. (J Kroslak bt T Henman 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-3; K Kucera bt M Maclagan 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5; Kroslak and Kucera bt N Broad and Henman 3-6 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-2; Kucera bt Henman 6-4 6-2; Kroslak bt Maclagan 7-5 6-2.

Other Davis Cup results,

Sporting Digest, page 32