Jack Draper to leave Davis Cup decision until the last minute as ‘banged up’ British No 1 arrives in Manchester after impressive US Open run

Draper, who arrived in Manchester to link-up with his team-mates on Tuesday lunchtime, conceded after his career-best run to the US Open semi-finals that he was ‘banged up’ following defeat to world No 1 and eventual winner Jannik Sinner.

And while team captain Leon Smith is thrilled to have his highest-ranked player among his stable of players here, ‘risk versus reward’ is at the forefront of his thinking with ties against Argentina and Canada, on Friday and Sunday respectively, following Wednesday’s opener against Finland.

‘We are absolutely thrilled that he’s coming,’ Smith said. ‘That shows his commitment.

‘I have spoken to him a lot about Davis Cup. He obviously came to Colombia last year and then was involved in what we did in September and November.

‘You can tell straight away that he gets Davis Cup: he plays with passion, pride, fight, and you mix that with the fact he’s a top 20 player with unbelievable quality, he’s going to be a very important member of the team not just this week but for many, many, many years to come.

‘He absolutely loves it and his commitment by coming here just shows that.’

Pressed on whether Draper, who is practising off-site in Manchester on Tuesday, has a shot of playing in one of the singles openers, Smith is playing the long game, hinting that his star player will be given additional rest.

‘I have to select the team to do what is best, not just for tomorrow, but also we have really important matches at the weekend as well so we just have to weigh up risk versus reward a little bit,’ he said.

‘Until we get on the court and start doing some stuff it’s quite hard to tell how that feels [with him].

‘With that said we have four guys here who are more than capable of going out tomorrow if that’s required and doing a really good job.’

There is no denying that Draper is the star of the show and an appearance here would allow a partisan home crowd to fete their new superstar after his semi-final run in New York.

But should Draper, who is itching to play despite his fatigue, be omitted from Wednesday’s tie with Finland, Dan Evans and Billy Harris represent options for singles, with Neal Skupski and Henry Patten doubles contenders.

Draper, 22, flew back to the UK on Saturday and has kept in constant communication with Smith about his energy levels.

‘Davis Cup is a huge deal to me,’ Draper said in New York last week.