Seen any talent lately?

Felgate used to travel the world as the coach who helped Henman into the big time. Now he shows up at small tennis centres like Tipton - rivalled only by the complex at nearby Dudley, according to the locals.

Surely he must be saddened that the British game is at such a low point that it is not worth him watching the first grand slam of the year? Isn't he depressed that his treasured Tim is leaving the Davis Cup team to an almost certain series of relegation battles?

No chance. Felgate is extraordinarily upbeat about the future of British tennis. He believes Britain can make a huge impact by getting four or five new players into the top 100 of the men's and women's games in the next four or five years.

He said: "People have short memories. When Tim first played Davis Cup he was ranked 200 or something in the world and we lost to Slovakia away. We are back in a similar situation. Of course it is a loss, but out of bad comes good.

"I am confident we can find players who can get to that level. It is beginning to happen. The aim is to put people on the world tour. That means putting them into the top 100. Out of that comes champions. I am not just looking for one person to replace Tim. I want four or five guys in the world top 100. I believe we can do that.

"In the women's game, the rankings are going up and we are heading in the right direction. I have got the coaches and the events in place.

"I believe we are getting a 'can-do' culture, a belief you can actually win. It's a lot more professional."

After nearly two years running the British game, Felgate has to talk positively. But there is some evidence of success at the lower end of the rankings.

Last year 19-year-old Josh Goodall from Basingstoke made one of the most spectacular rises up the ATP rankings to 345 in his first season out of the junior ranks. Andrew Banks rose from 934 to 351 and US Open junior champion Andrew Murray has shown huge potential.

These are hardly headline-grabbing developments. But Elena Baltacha's success in the first week at Melbourne is already having a huge impact on the British women.

Felgate said: "There is a buzz because the coaches and girls are saying it is great what Bally did. Success sparks success.

"I understand it is not going to make the papers. But there is plenty of winning going on. You have to build. You can't go from the Conference to the Premiership in one year.

"The players are there. This is the lowest rung of professional tennis, but it is where you start. This is where you learn your trade and play loads of matches.

"We have got tougher in terms of the measures we have put in place for rankings targets and funding. We used to be afraid to kick players out and say what we felt. Now we are not afraid to voice our opinions."

Maybe not, but Britain's chances of victory in their Euro-African zone tie against Israel in March still look pretty bleak.

But Felgate said: "It is not all gloom and doom. I can understand why people feel that. But for all that, how much actual Davis Cup success have we had in the last eight years?

We had two good first-round matches in the world group and we are only one level below that at the moment.

"You would never not have played Tim. But ask Tim and he would like to have done a lot more than that. I would hope in the next couple years, we don't go any further down.

"We are statistically ranked higher than the Israelis though they are at home. It's not that daunting."