Jack Draper gets season off to a fast start 

Captain Leon Smith will be hoping to lean on his highest ranked player when his team take on Norway, as Jack Draper makes his long-awaited return from injury. 

The British No.1 and reigning Indian Wells champion has been sidelined with injury since Wimbledon, having played just one singles match in the past five months as he recovers from an arm injury. 

After pulling out of the Australian Open, Draper announced that he would be back in contention for the Davis Cup, where he could play his first match for Great Britain since the 2024 Finals Group Stage in Manchester. 

Until his injury last year, Draper was up there as one of the best players in the world – reaching a career-high of world No.4, making a US Open semi-final at the end of 2024 and claiming wins over the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune and many more. 

The stats speak for themselves. The big-hitting lefty won 86.1% of service games last year (ranked 11th on tour), won 54.7% points on second serve (ranked 6th on tour) and had the fourth highest ‘Under Pressure Rating’ according to ATP stats, based on his performance on break points, in tie-breaks and deciding sets. 

Read our exclusive interview with Jack Draper

While it’s a lot to ask for Draper to replicate those sorts of numbers in his first match back, the Brits may need him to bring his A-game if he is to face off against former world No.2 Casper Ruud. 

Ruud is a 14-time ATP title-winner and last year, defeated Draper in the Mutua Madrid Open final. Draper will need to lean into his biggest weapons on the serve and forehand to come through what could be a blockbuster match up – should the two players be called upon.  

Cam Norrie’s composure on pressure points 

British No.2 Cam Norrie is making a habit of rising to the big occasions over the last 12 months. 

The 30-year-old has been playing some of his best tennis in the high pressure Grand Slam matches – and he’s loving every opportunity he gets. 

Not only that, but he’s coming out the right side of a lot of those battles. He reached the quarter-final at Wimbledon after winning a five-set epic against Nicolas Jarry, made the fourth round at Roland Garros where he defeated former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, and recently battled through tough, long matches against Benjamin Bonzi and Emilio Nava at the Australian Open. 

The British star saved 15/17 break points in his five set thriller against Bonzi in Melbourne and then rescued 7/10 against Nava in the second round. In his third round against eventual semi-finalist Alexander Zverev he also took his chances well – converting both of his break point opportunities in the first and second sets before losing out in four. 

Read our exclusive interview with Cam Norrie

Norrie is finding ways to make life difficult for his opponents in those pivotal moments in matches and is seemingly playing with more aggression and freedom this season. In his words, he’s ‘loving his tennis right now’. 

If nominations go by rankings, he could play Ruud and also 19-year-old former junior Wimbledon champion Nicolai Budkov Kjaer – a match up where Norrie will want to use all his experience to put the pressure on his opponent, competing in front of his home crowd. 

These are the matches that Norrie seems to be relishing at the moment, and the Brits will need that big moment mentality in this tough tie. 

Capitalising on doubles advantage  

One area Great Britain could have an advantage on paper is in the doubles.  

Captain Smith had the difficult choice between choosing four players ranked inside the world’s top 10, and elected for the No.1 ranked duo from 2025 – Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool. 

Cash and Glasspool won 60 matches last season, seven titles and bagged their first Wimbledon trophy together – becoming the first British team to do so in 89 years. 

Norway however, bring an element of unpredictability to their doubles pairing, which could prove challenging for the Brits. In their Qualifier against Argentina last year, Ruud played with Viktor Durasovic, while in their World Group I play-off, Durasovic competed with Lukas Hellum Lilleengen, who is also in the squad. 

Based on doubles rankings and experience, this should give the Brits an advantage with a well-established pair at the top of the game, but the Davis Cup is a very different challenge. 

Having made their debuts for Great Britain last year, Cash and Glasspool will now have a better feel for the competition and can take that into this tie to help secure their first win for their country. 

We’ve seen that they have the ability to win the biggest prizes and beat the best players – replicating those kind of performances will no doubt be crucial in what is often a decisive doubles rubber. 

Great Britain face Norway in the Davis Cup Qualifiers on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 February. Watch the action live exclusively on Tennis Channel, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport.