NOBODY should be condemned for believing that Britain’s Davis Cup team has any more chance of overcoming the might of a Roger Federer-led Switzerland in next weekend’s attempt to reclaim a place in the elite World Group than Jeremy Bates has of turning water into wine. So it is apt that the British captain has taken his men to prepare in the French lakeside town of Evian.

Encountering world No 1s, past, present or future, or playing on clay has hardly been a profitable business for the British over the past quarter of a century. Only four of the past 14 foreign excursions on the surface have ended in success and none came in a covered arena similar to the one that awaits in Geneva.

“I’m not sure where they have come from with that choice of surface,” says Bates as he prepares to usher Andrew Murray, Greg Rusedski, David Sherwood and Alan Mackin on to the team bus for a drive alongside Lake Geneva and across the Swiss border. “Federer is not comfortable on clay, so it’s a strange decision.”

Clay is Federer’s least favoured surface, but he did reach the semi-finals of this year’s French Open after retaining his title at Hamburg, notoriously the slowest tournament on the ATP calendar. Switzerland’s 20-year-old No 2, Stanislas Wawrinka, is happiest with red clay under his feet after reaching the final at Gstaad in July.

Bates is guarded about the way he will deploy his players, particularly whether Murray will be asked to play three best-of-five-set matches in three days. One theory is that the 18-year-old will avoid facing Federer on day one, with Mackin thrust into the fray as cannon fodder. This would leave Murray fresh to partner Rusedski in the doubles and then confront 59th-ranked Wawrinka in the possibly decisive fifth rubber.

“Andy is chomping at the bit to play,” says Bates. “There is the thinking that if he is not going to win against Federer, then what is the point of playing him? “First of all, I don’t know he is not going to beat Federer. And then if he played Federer and didn’t win, would he be better off going into the doubles not having played on day one? If he only plays on Saturday, how is he for Sunday? I have not made a decision on it.”