Basking in the Paris sunshine, chatting to Britain's Davis Cup captain Roger Taylor, it's hard not to conclude that his job is about as arduous as a lifeguard's in the desert.

We have just watched another encouraging win from one of his two star players, and in Britain's last Davis Cup outing the team strolled to a 5-0 win over Portugal.

The next match in Ecuador for a place in the elite world group is not until September, so what is there for Taylor to do until then?

After all, his players have their own coaching teams, so there is no day-to-day involvement with them.

"In many ways I'm really here to support them, let them know that I'm around," explains Taylor.

"Jeremy Bates, the coach, is with me, and they know they've got our full support."

Mind you, put the clock back to last July, when Britain last played Ecuador in the Davis Cup, and life was not so rosy.

Against the Ecuadorian clay court specialists, Britain were strong favourites on the grass courts at Wimbledon.

Greg Rusedski was deep in his trough of injury-induced poor form and the tie was lost when 17-year-old Giovanni Lapentti, possibly playing his first match on grass, beat Arvind Parmar in the decisive rubber.

Having lost to Ecuador on the grass of SW19, at first sight, the prospect of beating them away and on clay does not seem bright.

But much has changed since that Wimbledon defeat.

Rusedski has returned to form this year with victories over Andre Agassi, Marat Safin and Gustavo Kuerten - the top three players in the world.

And both he and Tim Henman have shown signs of getting to grips with clay-court tennis.

"I've watched them right through the clay court circuit, and they're improving tactically," says Taylor.

"You've got to get a good rhythm, slow things down.

"Patience is so important - you've got to stay out there and rally, and compete for the points - there are no easy points on clay."

Taylor's major problem is the dearth of talent once you take Henman and Rusedski out of the equation.

Martin Lee and 18-year-old Lee Childs are the most likely to bridge the gap, and both were given invaluable Davis Cup experience once the tie against Portugal was safe.

"To get that experience of playing in Davis Cup, and to see Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski at close quarters, how they train and the kind of pressure they're under and how they deal with it, is a learning curve that every young guy has to go through," says Taylor.

Childs burst onto the scene by becoming the youngest ever winner of the national championships back in November.

Taylor knows the youngster has potential, but he is also aware that Childs has a long way to go.

"He's very much the modern tennis athlete - powerful and athletic and can hurt you with his shots," he explains.

"However, the world is full of these young guys - in Britain we have to realise that every country in the world is producing these young tennis players."

So for the moment Britain's Davis Cup team remain a two-man band.

"We rely on them, not only in singles but in doubles as well, and they are the ones who will have to do most of the work," says Taylor.

But, after this week in Paris, there's every reason to hope that the two of them alone may be good enough to see Britain back among the Davis Cup elite.