Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are confident Andy Murray can handle the transition from hard court in London over the next week to the clay of Ghent at the Davis Cup final against Belgium in a fortnight’s time, although the Scot remains no more than cautiously optimistic.
As Murray mulled over the options for what will be the most intense two weeks of his career outside the slams, he sounded more upbeat on Friday about handling the contrasting challenges than he did even a few days ago, when he was still not totally committed to playing in the ATP World Tour Finals, which start on Sunday.
Back pain – unrelated to his 2013 surgery – flared at the Paris Masters last week but has eased through intense daily treatment, and he has practised freely on clay at Queen’s with a view to prioritising his efforts to win Great Britain’s first Davis Cup since 1936. Although he may take a day or two to rediscover his rhythm at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, the Scot goes into his opening match on Monday afternoon against David Ferrer – whom he beat handily at the Paris Masters – in good shape, physically and mentally.
“It’ll be tough in Belgium for sure” Murray said. “Their fans will be very loud but hopefully we’ll have a lot of support travelling there as well and it’s our job to give them something to shout about. This week the preparations have been tricky, being mainly on the clay, Monday to Thursday, but it was never going to be easy. Still, I would have signed up to be in this situation at the end of the year in comparison to last year, and hopefully I can play some good tennis here and in the Davis Cup.”
Federer went through an almost identical experience here last year. Speaking on the eve of his own opening match – against Tomas Berdych on Sunday night – the six-times winner reflected on his withdrawal with injury on the morning of last year’s final and his subsequent recovery to help Switzerland win the Davis Cup for the first time a week later against France in Lille.
“I was dealing with a back problem here from the Saturday night [after his semi-final win over his compatriot Stan Wawrinka] until the Davis Cup,” he said. “Stan handled [the change of surface] great, played unreal on the Friday against [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga. It took me a match to get confident to know I could play, and that was a big relief to me.
“I know it’s a change of surface but it’s something we do on many occasions throughout the year – maybe not within a few days but we’ve done it, from the juniors and as pros at many levels, all the time. But, at the end of the day, [Davis Cup] is not [a full-length] tournament. It’s just three days. Andy will be mentally ready for it. It’s a great challenge for him and he’ll be excited about it.”
Nadal went from this tournament to two Davis Cup finals on clay: when Spain beat Argentina in Seville four years ago, and in 2009 when they whitewashed the Czech Republic in Barcelona. The Spaniard, whose first match is against Wawrinka on Monday evening, said: “You have four days always [to get ready]. You have time enough. I don’t think it will be a big problem for Andy. He is an amazing player.”
Drugs was the other topic du jour, the revelations about Russian complicity in cheating this week resonating still throughout sport. Federer, who revealed he had been tested out of competition seven times this year, said he was surprised players who regularly go deep in big tournaments are not automatically tested from the quarter-finals onwards, a proposition with which the other leading players generally agreed.
“The more transparency, the better,” Murray said. “There’s absolutely no question about that. As a sport, we could invest more money in the anti-doping process. The prize money now is so, so high that there’s no reason for us not to have get it as perfect as possible.
“It seems like every week something new is coming out and across a variety of different sports. We just hope that tennis can remain as clean as possible. I’ve been tested like seven-plus times in the year by the ITF, [but] that doesn’t take into consideration the UK anti-doping tests that I get.”
He added: “I feel like I’ve been tested the most in my career but, to be honest, it’s getting to the stage where that doesn’t even matter anymore. Lance Armstrong was the most tested athlete on the planet and never failed a drugs test so it doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything.”
The world No1, Novak Djokovic, whose first match is against Kei Nishikori on Sunday afternoon, said: “I’m always available [for random testing]. They know where I am, I’m not hiding anything, so if any testers come to me it’s fair enough.”
