Henman and Rusedski fight over Davis Cup role

Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, Britain's two great tennis rivals, are set to go head to head once again for the captaincy of Britain's Davis Cup team as the dust settles on a humilating defeat to lowly Lithuania.

Andy Murray may be grabbing the headlines at the Grand Slam tournaments but aside from the phenomenal Scot there is a dearth of talent in the game, and last weekend Great Britain were beaten by a country that only has three players with world rankings. They must now face off against that tennis heavyweight Turkey in July. If Britain lose the rubber they will find themselves in the lowest tier of the competition – with the likes of San Marino, Andorra and Montenegro.

The current Great Britain captain, John Lloyd, is unlikely to survive the embarrassment of overseeing the loss to Lithuania, indeed he has now lost a record five ties on the trot.

The chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, Roger Draper, called the result against Lithuania "unacceptable" and the LTA's player director Steve Martens' demanded "swift and decisive" action.

Lloyd has another 18 months on his contract and sacking him would be expensive, but reports have already linked the Lawn Tennis Association with both Henman and Rusedski.

The pair carried Britain's tennis hopes throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, but were never the best of friends, and now their rivalry is set to resurface.

Rusedski would be put out if he was overlooked. He is already captain of Britain's junior Davis Cup team and is known to have designs on the job. He played in 20 Davis Cup ties for GB between 1995 and 2007 and won 30 out of his 43 matches.

Rusedski has also been working with James Ward, who might not be a household name, but was Britain's No1 player in Lithuania,

However, Henman would be a more high-profile appointment. He always overshadowed Rusedski in terms of publicity while playing, and could do so again in retirement.

Since hanging up his racket three years ago 'Tiger Tim' has maintained his public profile by moonlighting as a commentator for the BBC. He also sits on the committee of the All England Club, but many have been urging him to take a more active interest in British tennis.

There are two other factors in Henman's favour - he already knows the GB Davis Cup coach Paul Annacone, and worked with him during his career. The other is that he has a better relationship than Rusedski with the one man that can fix the whole problem - Andy Murray.

If the world number four can be persuaded to come back on board, then Britain should be able to get themselves out of the hole they find themselves in. ·