Davis Cup captain Smith delivers message after announcing squad for September's Manchester showpiece

Davis Cup team captain Leon Smith made a surprise appearance at a children’s coaching session at The Northern Tennis Club in West Didsbury to announce his squad to represent Great Britain for next month’s hotly-anticipated global showpiece at Manchester’s AO Arena.

Britain will be fielding its strongest possible team for the widely-regarded World Cup of tennis, with current British No.1 Cameron Norrie, recent ATP Washington champion Dan Evans, former two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray and Neal Skupski, the current world No.1 in doubles, all on board.

The countdown has now begun with just four weeks to go until Britain face arguably the toughest group featuring Australia, France and Switzerland from September 12-17 to determine who will advance to the Davis Cup Finals in November staged in Spain.

Smith said: “It was a real privilege to join the coaching session this morning with the local children at the Northern, who were really enjoying their tennis.

“I’m super excited to name our strongest squad to play Davis Cup at the AO Arena next month in front of a packed home crowd.

“It’s been a long time since we played in the North West and I’m sure we are going to feel and hear a lot of energy from the fans.

“We have a great team with a lot of Davis Cup experience who will be ready to give it everything in a very tough group with Australia, Switzerland and France. “Events like this play a huge role in inspiring people to pick up a racket and get out there to hit some balls.”

The event, brought to the area by the LTA, Manchester City Council and other partners, is a huge coup for the region.

The last time Manchester hosted the Cup on a smaller scale was way back in 1994 - ironically at the Northern on grass - when