Lloyd admits his fears as Brits suffer cup mauling
Andy Murray is heading to Indian Wells this week to continue his assault on the biggest titles in the sport while the rest of British men's tennis comes to terms with potential relegation to the third division of the world game.
Not even the announcement that 36 of what the Lawn Tennis Association consider the best men's and women's players could be given up to £60,000 a year in support, could deflect attention from the 4-1 Davis Cup defeat to Ukraine in Glasgow. It means Britain faces a relegation play-off against Poland in September to stay in the second tier of the competition and captain John Lloyd has a battle to convince Murray, who is recovering from a virus which removed him from the tie, to help restore battered pride against the Poles.
The financial support is designed to fast track the best youngsters in the LTA system, although only two players - British women's No1 Anne Keothavong, who has broken into the world's top 50, and Laura Robson, the Wimbledon junior champion - are getting the full £60,000, which is reviewed annually.
Patently, immediate solutions to our dearth of international class men's players cannot be found and Lloyd admitted: "It's a disappointing loss but the better team won, it's that simple.
"We can produce some players but we don't have the depth. We don't have enough players to complement Andy Murray and we need more in the top 100."
Chris Eaton earned Britain's only win with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 victory over Illya Marchenko in yesterday's "dead" rubber.
