Andy Murray out of Great Britain’s team for their Davis Cup clash with Canada
Tuesday 24 January 2017 15:19, UK
Andy Murray will not be part of Great Britain’s team for their Davis Cup clash with Canada next weekend.
The world No 1 was not named in the initial four-man team but captain Leon Smith has not ruled out adding Murray should he change his mind about playing in the World Group first-round tie in Ottawa, starting on February 3.
Novak Djokovic, who, like Murray, suffered a surprise early exit at the Australian Open, will lead Serbia against Russia in the competition next month but Smith has acknowledged that it might be better for the Scot to skip the tie in order to give his body a good period of rest following his extraordinary run of form at the end of the 2016 season.
Murray only had two weeks off after that run culminated in victory at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, with his next tournament scheduled to be the Dubai Duty Free Championships at the end of February.
"We will continue to speak with Andy in the coming days regarding his potential involvement and if he decides he would like to be part of the team then we can of course change the nominations as necessary," Smith said.
"To be honest, the best thing for his body is probably not to play, in my opinion.
"Don't get me wrong - I'd love him to play. But, for his own good, it's better for him to rest up and train and get ready for this next period, because there won't be much time the rest of the year and this might be a really good time to do it.
"Once you play Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, then you hit the clay season and the grass season, there isn't much time. So this is probably the best time."
If Murray sticks to his plan, it will be Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot who take on Canada, with Evans set to be number one after his impressive run to the fourth round in Melbourne, while in Edmund Britain have another top-50 player.
The Canada team includes world No 3 Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil, Daniel Nestor and Denis Shapovalov.
Pospisil is currently ranked 135 in singles but has been a top-25 player and he is a former Grand Slam champion in doubles.
At 44, Nestor is still ranked in the top 15 in doubles while, at the other end of the age scale, 17-year-old Shapovalov is the reigning Wimbledon junior champion.
Britain can take heart from their last match without Murray in Serbia last summer, when Edmund stepped up to earn an impressive victory.
Smith said: "British tennis continues to go from strength to strength and the momentum continues to build amongst our elite players continuing to make inroads up the rankings.
"After Melbourne, for only the second week in the last 39 years, we will have three British men in the ATP world's top 50 singles rankings, as well as Jamie who ended 2016 as part of the No 1 doubles team.
"We know the challenge the Canadian team poses - they have vast experience in singles and doubles. But we also have a strong team with a proven track record in Davis Cup. This should make for a really competitive tie."
The winners of the tie will play either France or Japan in the quarter-finals in April, with the losers facing a relegation play-off the week after the US Open in September.
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