Leon Smith, (born 1976) is a British

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

coach. Smith has been captain of the

Great Britain Davis Cup team The Great Britain Davis Cup team has represented the United Kingdom internationally since 1900 in the Davis Cup. Organised by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), it is one of the 50 members of International Tennis Federation's European associatio ...

since 2010, and led the Great Britain team to win the

2015 Davis Cup The 2015 Davis Cup was the 104th edition of the Davis Cup, a tournament between national teams in men's tennis. It was sponsored by BNP Paribas. Great Britain Davis Cup team, Great Britain won their tenth title (their first since 1936 Davis Cu ...

Early years

Smith was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland and attended

Hutchesons' Grammar School Hutchesons' Grammar School is a private, co-educational day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded as Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School by George Hutcheson and Thomas Hutcheson in 1641, making it the 19th oldest scho ...

. He played junior tennis at national level but did not become a professional player.

Career

Smith began coaching professionally at club level aged 18. He has focused on elite players since 1998, and became national performance officer for Tennis Scotland that year. Two years later he helped set up a tennis academy at the Next Generation club in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He rejoined Tennis Scotland as LTA academy coach, and became national training coach for Scotland in 2004. Smith has coached several Scottish junior players, most notably

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...

. Smith worked with Murray from age 11 to 15, during which time Murray won the

Junior Orange Bowl The Junior Orange Bowl is a non-profit organization based in Coral Gables, Florida, that holds the Junior Orange Bowl International Youth Festival, a series of events held for the youth of South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shor ...

under-12 title and five

ITF Futures The ITF Men's World Tennis Tour (formerly ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The tour represents the lowest rung of the men ...

events. Smith and Murray remained friends, and Smith assisted Murray at the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

in 2006 during a period when Murray had no full-time coach. Smith became the LTA's national under-16s men's coach in 2005 and the under-18s coach in 2008, and was later appointed Head of Player Development in Men's Tennis. He was appointed Head of Men's Tennis simultaneously to his appointment as Davis Cup captain, a position he held until 2014. He also served as Head of Women's Tennis between 2011 and 2013.

Davis Cup captaincy

Smith's appointment as Davis Cup captain was announced by the LTA on 12 April 2010. His appointment at age 34 made him the youngest Great Britain captain since Paul Hutchins (appointed in 1975 aged 30), and one of the few to be appointed without having been a top-level player. His first tie as captain was a Europe/Africa Zone Group II match against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, held at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

from 9 July 2010, which Great Britain won 5–0, thereby avoiding relegation. In 2011 the Great Britain team won promotion to Europe/Africa Zone Group I, and in 2013 won promotion to the World Group. In 2014 Great Britain reached the quarter-finals, eventually losing 3–2 to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 2015, under Smith's captaincy, Great Britain won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936, beating Belgium 3–1 in the final. Smith was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to tennis.

Personal life

Smith is married and has three children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Leon Living people Scottish tennis coaches Tennis players from Glasgow 1976 births Officers of the Order of the British Empire