Great Britain can beat Serbia in Davis Cup, says Leon Smith

Davis Cup captain Leon Smith sees no reason why Great Britain cannot continue their fairytale run by beating Serbia and has backed Andy Murray to upset Novak Djokovic.

Murray produced another exceptional battling performance to defeat Kei Nishikori in five sets on Sunday and earn Britain victory over Japan and a quarter-final in Serbia in July.

That represents probably the toughest test in the competition at the moment, with Serbia boasting not just world No 1 Djokovic but three other top-100 players as well as leading doubles player Nenad Zimonjic.

But Smith disputed that it represented a big step up, citing the victory over 2014 finalists France at the same stage last year that really set Britain on their way to a first title in 79 years.

Smith said: "It's difficult but I'm not sure it can get much tougher than what we played against France at Queen's Club and their rankings, the depth that they had.

"Every match is difficult, that's the nature of the competition, and, at the end of the day, we're also a very strong team. It's not easy for them when you look at our list of players now."

Murray has already committed to the tie despite a hectic summer schedule and that may well persuade Djokovic to follow suit.

Djokovic has dominated his former junior rival recently, losing just one of their last 12 meetings, and beat Murray for a fourth time in the Australian Open final in January.