Leon Smith arrived here on Thursday hoping to see Andy Murray do well at the ATP World Tour Finals but perhaps not so well that he drains himself before the Davis Cup final against Belgium next weekend.
“Clearly I would be happy if he isn’t injured,” the Davis Cup captain said as Murray prepared for Friday night’s match against Stan Wawrinka. “But Andy said the same. He’s getting great preparation. Obviously I don’t know what the Belgians are doing. But if you haven’t played for three or four weeks and you are just practising, nothing can replicate playing against very good players. You can play practice sets until you are blue in the face, it’s not the same as having to make a decision that really counts at 4-4, 30-all, second set, second serve.
“Whatever happens with the players, with the adrenaline, with the moment, if they are a bit fatigued, I don’t see it as an issue. It will be a factor but I have seen Andy push through. You saw how tired he was in the last tie against Australia and against France. Against very good players, he finds a way. This means an awful lot to him. So I don’t see it as an issue, just very good preparation. But clearly I would like no injuries.”
Smith revealed he has not decided who of Kyle Edmund and James Ward will support Murray in the second singles spot when the three-day tie begins in Ghent next Friday. “No I haven’t made a final call on it, I haven’t communicated with the guys who it is going to be yet,” he said.
“I had the advantage of being out in South America for a couple of weeks with [Edmund and Ward] and, like always, there’s a whole bunch of factors going into this. I think I’m close to knowing which direction I want to go with it, I just want to have a chat with one or two tried and tested confidants and then I’ll try and communicate with the players as soon as possible, because I think that’s better all round.”
Nevertheless, there is a growing feeling the 20-year-old Edmund – whom Smith watched win first-hand on clay in Buenos Aires last Sunday before he went on to play in Montevideo this week – could be making his debut ahead of the more seasoned Ward. His age and inexperience would not stop Smith picking him. “The age thing for me, I wouldn’t mind that,” he said. “And in terms of being worried about someone’s nerves or experience I don’t worry about that either. For me in my mind I think everyone is going to be nervous, not just a young guy that comes in. If he does play I don’t think it will be a factor.”
After a traumatic week in France and Brussels, as police hunt those behind the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday, Smith is satisfied the authorities have done all they can to secure the team’s safety in Ghent, only 35 miles from the jihadi cells in Brussels where several arrests have been made this week.
“Gavin Fletcher, who does LTA Davis Cup logistics, is very much on that with all the right authorities,” Smith said. “We get daily updates. You have to put the trust in those authorities. We are taking advice from our own British government and travel agencies, also the Belgian authorities and the people in Ghent, where they have had a cycling event and a trade fair this week.
“It would be a shame for many reasons not to go ahead with it. It is important to go in and get on with it, showing we are stronger than that.”
