Andy Murray shrugged off a sore back to power Great Britain into the Davis Cup final
Sunday 20 September 2015 20:15, UK
Andy Murray has revealed that he had to deal with a troublesome back injury as he led Great Britain into the Davis Cup final.
As in the quarter-final, the British No 1 managed three victories in the space of three days, Australia the victims this time in front of a jubilant Glasgow crowd.
Having won a first singles match on Friday, Murray teamed up with his brother Jamie to win the doubles on Saturday, and then clinched victory with a 7-5 6-3 6-2 defeat of Bernard Tomic on Sunday.
I practised Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and felt fine and then, on Tuesday night, my back was extremely sore and got progressively worse the next couple of days.
And, after the match, Murray said that his back had turned out to be far more of a concern than the fatigue which playing three matches in as many days might entail.
"I wasn't concerned about how much I had left in the tank, I was more concerned about my back," he said. "My back has been giving me a lot of trouble this week.
"It's nothing to do with the previous issues I had (he had back surgery two years ago), it's a completely different thing.
"My back was absolutely fine during the US Open, then I took five days off, started practising again here on Sunday.
"I practised Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and felt fine and then, on Tuesday night, my back was extremely sore and got progressively worse the next couple of days.
"I don't know exactly what happened. Sometimes, after you have played a lot of tennis, when you take a break the muscles stiffen up and, when you come back, you can have some issues."
However, Murray said that he was able to concentrate on defeating Tomic once the match began.
"I probably thought about it (his back) more before the match than when I was on the court," he said.
"Once I was out there I was just trying to play each point, fight as hard as I could on his service games, and get as many balls back in play as I could.
"I made it difficult for him there, I was serving well and I don't think he was reading the serves too well either.
"I wasn't really thinking about history or anything like that, I was just concentrating on the points.
"I'm obviously delighted to get through. We knew it would be an incredibly difficult match to win, Australia have great depth and experience."
The Australians were impressed by Murray and by the support the British team received.
Tomic said: "You are not just playing against Andy Murray here, it feels like you are playing against the whole of Britain.
"His motivation, his presence changes every point. He's an amazing player."
And Australia captain Wally Masur added: "Meeting Andy Murray in Glasgow was interesting. Andy was like a locomotive all weekend."
