Great Britain see themselves as a “very strong candidate” for a wildcard for next year’s revamped Davis Cup, captain Leon Smith says.

By beating Uzbekistan 3-1, GB ensured they will be seeded in qualifying for the new event but would bypass that stage altogether with a wildcard.

Smith said it was going to be hard for governing body the ITF to be objective in awarding its two wildcards.

“Is it [form in] the last three or four years of the competition?” he said.

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To be eligible for a wildcard, which gives direct entry to the finals, a team must but be ranked in the top 50 of the Davis Cup nations ranking or have at least one player ranked in the top 10 of the ATP world rankings.

Great Britain, who won the Davis Cup in 2015, are ranked sixth and their highest-ranked singles player is Kyle Edmund, the world number 16.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Smith added: “Clearly, we would view ourselves as being a very strong candidate. Not just for the last three or four years of results, but also how we have approached Davis Cup and how we have really embraced hosting ties to the nth degree to create atmosphere.

“I think it’s a very difficult situation for the ITF to put themselves in. It’s not easy to be objective, or even transparent, with it. To really justify the reason of giving a wildcard is not going to be easy.”

The draw for February’s qualifying round – which is played home and away – takes place in London on Wednesday, 26 September and the wildcards will be announced before that date.

“Part of us would want another home tie [in February], but do I want to go away somewhere in South America on clay straight after the Australian Open? Probably not,” Smith said.

“So we would view a wildcard as something that would probably help the schedules of everybody.”

The Davis Cup will change to an 18-team season finale in 2019, with 24 teams competing in the qualifiers.

The 12 winning teams will advance to the finals in November, where they will be joined by the four semi-finalists from this year’s tournament – France, Spain, Croatia and the United States – and the two wildcard picks.

The finals week will have a round-robin format before a knockout phase, with matches consisting of two singles and one doubles rubber, played as three-set matches.

Next year’s end-of-year event will be held in either Madrid or Lille.

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Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

As one of the seeds for the qualifying round, Britain will not have to play Serbia, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Japan or Italy – all of whom currently have players ranked higher than the British number one Kyle Edmund.

However, they could play Australia or Switzerland, or possibly face a trip to South America to take on Colombia or Brazil.

A home tie is always welcome. Not just because of the partisan support and choice of surface, but also because it gives the LTA a platform to sell the sport away from the traditional summer window.

But as Leon Smith has indicated, a wildcard would still be preferable, even if this seems a major flaw in the structure of the new competition.

The investment group Kosmos has promised to pour $3bn into the Davis Cup and grassroots tennis over the next 25 years. To recoup that vast outlay, they will have to strike some lucrative television deals. And so they will want to do everything in their power to ensure the star players and the countries with the largest TV markets are involved.

Croatia reached the Davis Cup final after Borna Coric beat Frances Tiafoe in over four hours to secure a 3-2 victory over the United States.

Croatia began the day with a 2-1 lead, but Sam Querrey beat Marin Cilic 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-4 to ensure a deciding rubber in Zadar.

Coric then outlasted Tiafoe 6-7 (0-7) 6-1 6-7 (11-13) 6-1 6-3 to send Croatia into their first final since 2016.

They will face defending champions France, who beat Spain 3-2.

Cilic and Coric both won the opening rubbers in straight sets to put Croatia in a strong position after the opening day.

America’s Mike Bryan, 40, who retired from Davis Cup tennis in 2016 along with his twin, Bob, returned to partner Ryan Harrison for Saturday’s doubles.

The duo prevailed in a five-hour epic to beat Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 7-5 7-6 (8-6) 1-6 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5).

Both sides, along with France and Spain, are guaranteed a place in next year’s revamped Davis Cup.

Cilic loses cool against Querrey

Earler, Cilic was given a code violation by Carlos Ramos – the umpire who was called a “thief” by Serena Williams in the US Open final – for smashing his racquet.

The world number six broke his racquet on the ground after a series of errors in a tight third set against Querrey.

He was given the reprimand by Ramos but, because it was his first offence of the match, Cilic was issued with a warning and no points were deducted.

“Usually when you break a racquet, you get a code violation,” Cilic said, adding that he “could not remember” the last time he broke any equipment on court.

The 29-year-old had previously squandered a 6-1 lead in the second set tie-break and hit 72 unforced errors to Querrey’s 57.

There was further frustration for Coric, who led 5-1 in the third set which he eventually lost on a lengthy tie-break.

However Coric, who beat Roger Federer in the Halle Open final in June, took control of the final two sets to win in four hours and six minutes.

Austria & Japan complete wins

The Davis Cup will change to an 18-team event season finale, with 24 teams competing in qualifying rounds in February.

The 12 winning teams will advance to the finals in November, along with the four semi-finalist from the 2018 competition and two wildcards.

Austria secured their place in the February qualifiers with a 3-1 victory over Australia.

Captain Lleyton Hewitt helped pull Australia back into the tie after winning Saturday’s doubles rubber, but Alex de Minaur lost in four sets to world number eight Dominic Thiem on Sunday.

Japan wrapped up a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, while Canada beat Netherlands 3-1.

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• GB beat Uzbekistan 3-1 in Davis Cup tie – report & highlights

Cameron Norrie revealed he was inspired by a message from rugby great Jonny Wilkinson before sealing Great Britain’s latest win in the Davis Cup.

Norrie blew a two-set lead and wasted match point en route to losing to world number 434 Jurabek Karimov on Friday.

But he defeated Sanjar Fayziev on Sunday as GB beat Uzbekistan 3-1.

“[Wilkinson] sent me a nice video to tell me to come out with a clean slate… prove to yourself and everyone that you can get it done,” Norrie said.

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The British number two’s 6-2 6-2 6-0 win gave Great Britain victory in the World Group play-off and ensured the team will be seeded in the qualifying round of the revamped Davis Cup when it starts in February.

Norrie told BBC Sport that retired fly-half Wilkinson, whose last-minute drop-goal won the Rugby World Cup for England in 2003, had sent him the message via one of the strength and conditioning coaches.

“He’s obviously incredible, an idol of mine, so it was unbelievable to get a message like that from him,” said the 23-year-old, who was born in South Africa to a Scottish father and Welsh mother.

“Growing up in New Zealand, it was kind of like a religion there, rugby, so it was sick. I was so pumped up when I received it.”

Leading the tie 2-1 going into Sunday’s singles rubbers, Britain needed one more victory to win the best-of-five-match tie in Glasgow.

A last-minute change of opponent – Fayziev coming in for world number 60 Denis Istomin – did not faze Norrie, who had enjoyed a dream Davis Cup debut in February against Spain.

In that tie he came from two sets down to stun Roberto Bautista Agut, who at the time was ranked 91 places above the Briton, and led to former GB captain John Lloyd saying Norrie had made “one of the most impressive debuts of all time”.

Against Fayziev he had a brief wobble in the opening game when he dropped his serve but won the next four games to take control.

He never looked back, winning eight games in a row from the seventh game of the second set to close out the match in convincing style.

“He would have learnt a lot from Friday,” captain Leon Smith said. “To get the response like he’s done, it takes a lot – credit to Cam.”

Cameron Norrie gave Great Britain a 3-1 victory in their Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan by winning his singles match against Sanjar Fayziev in Glasgow.

The British number two, who lost his opening singles match on Friday despite having had a match point in the third set, triumphed 6-2 6-2 6-0.

Victory in the tie ensures Britain will be seeded in the revamped Davis Cup when it starts in February.

Fayziev was a late replacement for world number 60 Denis Istomin.

Norrie said: “It’s an extremely proud moment. The crowd were awesome.

“Big thanks to my dad for actually staying put in his seat – he was pretty nervous the other day.”

Britain started the day with a 2-1 lead after Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot came from behind to win their doubles match on Saturday against Istomin and Fayziev.

Norrie’s victory on Sunday at the Emirates Arena meant there was no need to play the scheduled fifth rubber between Dan Evans and Jurabek Karimov.

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‘Lessons learnt’ for Norrie

World number 70 Norrie had been expecting to face Istomin, who was stunned by Evans in the opener on Friday and spent seven hours on court over the past two days, but Uzbekistan named world number 516 Fayziev instead.

The 23-year-old Briton came into the match following the disappointment of letting victory slip away from him in spectacular fashion in Friday’s singles match against Karimov.

The only question mark over whether he had put it behind him came when he dropped the opening game on his serve, but he then won four games in a row to take charge of the opening set, which he won when Fayziev netted a return.

He was again pushed hard in the opening game of the second set but this time held his serve and then broke in the fourth and eighth games to go two sets up.

He had been in this position against Karimov but this time did not give Fayziev a chance as he rattled off eight games in a row – and 11 of 12 – to wrap up the match in just under two hours.

“I was pretty nervous coming into the tie today and Friday but the crowd got me through it. It’s always difficult playing your first home tie but I learnt a lot this weekend and I’m really proud of the team,” Norrie said.

Captain Leon Smith added: “Cam said it there – he would have learnt a lot from Friday. To get the response like he’s done, it takes a lot – credit to Cam.”

Tie not meaningless to us – Smith

The tie was set to be a World Group relegation play-off, with Britain’s place in the competition’s top tier at stake following their first-round loss to Spain in February.

However, the Davis Cup will change to an 18-team event season finale in 2019, rendering the tie effectively meaningless.

Twenty-four teams will compete in February’s qualifiers, which Britain are now seeded for, with the 12 winning teams advancing to the finals in November.

The four semi-finalists from the previous year’s tournament – which this year are France, Spain, Croatia and the United States – and two wildcard picks would complete the 18 teams.

“Some people said this was a meaningless tie but look at the Uzbekistan team, look at the crowd. It was hardly meaningless, it was brilliant,” Smith said.

“The big thing for us is we’re seeded now and we get a draw we could be successful in. Now we’re in it, we want to be part of it in November.”

Smith does not yet know if his side will play a home tie in February and, with next year’s finals to be staged in either Madrid or Lille, this was potentially the last time GB played in front of a home crowd.

“The crowd like home ties, and so do we,” Smith added. “The new format.. now the decision has been made, we have to embrace it.”