‘Defeat hurt but time to move on’

When you
lose a Wimbledon semi-final it’s tough to put that out of your mind after just a few days, but the Davis Cup means I can start to look forward.

I needed to take a few days off after Wimbledon, which eats into preparation for the
quarter-final against France, but I started practising again on Tuesday, had a slightly longer and more intense practice on Wednesday, and on Thursday I might try to hit a couple of times to get my timing and rhythm back.

This time of year is tricky with so many events in a short space of time, and it can be difficult to get everything right.

I played a lot of tennis during the clay-court season, then Queen’s and Wimbledon, and I need to analyse it as a whole.

I’m obviously still disappointed at losing to Roger Federer last Friday and I haven’t watched the match yet, but I hope it’s something I will learn from.

‘If we did a general knowledge quiz…’

It’s the second year running that Britain have made the World Group quarter-finals in the Davis Cup, so I think we’ve proved we belong at this level.

We’ve developed a really good spirit and I thought I’d tell you a bit about my team-mates James Ward, my brother Jamie and Dom Inglot.

James on court:
He obviously likes playing in the big arenas. His results over the last couple of years would suggest that. He’s played some of his best tennis in the Davis Cup and the big competitions, with decent results at Queen’s, in Cincinnati and this year at Wimbledon. When he has to raise his level he has the ability to do that.

James off court:
I’d say Wardy is pretty quiet when he’s in the team room, unless you’re talking about football. It’s more when Arsenal get brought up, and if anyone says anything negative about them. I never understand how as a supporter it’s OK to say a certain player is playing so badly, but if someone who supports another team says the same thing they will respond with: ‘What are you talking about? He’s a great player!’ Wardy’s like that.

Jamie on court:
He plays with feel and finesse on the court. He doesn’t serve unbelievably hard or hit the ball that powerfully but he has great hands, great feel and great instincts on the doubles court. When he’s partnered with somebody who serves big and has a contrasting style to his, he does very well.

Jamie off court:
Jamie is pretty laid back. When we’re around each other we don’t wind each other up, to be honest. He’s not quiet but he’s certainly not loud. He’s pretty relaxed away from the court. I’d say he hasn’t changed since we were kids.

Dom on court:
His game is based on power and he’s a big guy, strong, more of an intimidating presence on the court. He and Jamie have contrasting styles and maybe that’s why, when they played together in the Davis Cup, they did pretty well. It would be tough to break Dom with the combination of his serve and Jamie’s volleys. When Jamie’s serving, Dom is such a big guy that he can be intimidating at the net.

Dom off court:
He’s a really nice guy, quite quiet. Dom is pretty intelligent, more so than the rest of us, I’d say. Jamie and Dom are a lot more intelligent than me and Wardy. I think if we were to do a team general knowledge quiz, it would be Wardy in last place, me second to last and then Jamie and Dom would be up the top.

‘I probably know Jo the best of the French’

France have a depth in singles that we can’t match but that doesn’t mean we can’t win this weekend.

In Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Nicolas Mahut they have four top grass-court players. Simon reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and semis at Queen’s, Gasquet has reached the semis at Wimbledon a couple of times and Jo is a Slam finalist.

Mahut is their number four and probably won’t play singles but he won an ATP tournament on grass last month.

I’ve played them all many times but I probably know Jo the best as I’ve practised and played against him a lot. You get to know people’s personalities a little bit by playing against them, the things they like and their tendencies.

I also played a lot in the juniors with him, while Jamie played Gasquet for the first time when they were 11, so there won’t be too many surprises out there.

They’re all quality players and it will be extremely tough to beat them – everybody has to play at the top of their game if we’re going to win.