Friday 22 April 2016 18:11, UK
Andy Murray has admitted for the first time that he may reconsider his involvement in Great Britain's defence of the Davis Cup after it was announced the quarter-final in Serbia will take place on clay.
Last year, the 28-year-old led Great Britain to their first Davis Cup success in 79 years with victory over Belgium but their hopes of retaining the title could now come under threat.
Murray's summer schedule looks packed with the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open joined on the calendar this year by the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and both he and Serbia's No 1 Novak Djokovic could withdraw from the tie in Belgrade scheduled for July 15 to 17.
Murray will have already converted to the grass-court season with Queen's and Wimbledon high on his agenda, while the Olympics and the US Open take place on hard courts, meaning he could play three consecutive competitions on three different surfaces.
Asked if the decision to play their Davis Cup tie on clay could potentially alter his commitment, Murray said on Friday: "Potentially. I need to see how my body is first.
"I leave now to go away next week to Madrid it's pretty much full on through until the Olympics for the next few months.
"[It is] a number of surface changes in a very short space of time, so you never know how the body is going to react or how it's going to pull up after those changes.
"I'll just have to see how my body is. Hopefully I'll be fine, but it's going to be a tough few months and I think all the players are aware of that right now. The more surface changes that are put in there makes it that bit more tricky."
Murray, who was also unveiled as a new ambassador for UNICEF on Friday morning, said he was surprised by the choice of a clay-court in Serbia but did not think it was a strategic move to unsettle the British team.
"It's tough. It just makes things more difficult at that period of the year," he said.
"I thought that maybe they would put it on a hard court potentially. Obviously clay for us would be our weakest surface. It's going to be tough. I would say I was slightly surprised by it.
"But every single away tie I have played over the last few years has been on clay. We went away to the States and played on clay, which is by far their worst surface. Italy, it's a bit more understandable. Belgium, I don't know if that is their best surface, also Serbia.
"It's more about making our team uncomfortable. It's the surface I've had my worst results on, Dan Evans, my brother as well. That's the reason for them putting it on clay.
"It's completely understandable but it's tricky for Novak Djokovic changing surfaces at that time too.
"I don't know what the likelihood of him playing is. I think [fellow British player] Dom Inglot said he was trying to pick [Serbian professional] Nenad Zimonjic's brain about whether Novak was playing or not. I don't think he got an answer.
"The reason for them picking clay is the surface is the worst for us, they've got a bunch of their guys who play well on clay. Novak is a great clay-court player."
