With a second Wimbledon title secured and Olympic gold to defend in Brazil next month, no one could begrudge Andy Murray the chance to take a breather. The day after his victory against Milos Raonic, word came that Murray is highly likely to be no more than a supportive courtside presence when Great Britain face Serbia in their Davis Cup quarter-final this weekend.
There will be no heavyweight confrontation between Murray and Novak Djokovic at the 6,100 Tasmajdan Stadium in Belgrade. Murray’s need to rest his aching limbs has shifted the focus on to the lesser lights in the British team and while Jamie Murray can be trusted not to falter in the doubles, the pressure on Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans and James Ward to perform on the clay in the singles will be intense unless the world No2 has a change of heart. The chances of that are slim.
“Nobody is putting him under any pressure to play and I wouldn’t expect him to in these circumstances,” admitted Britain’s captain Leon Smith.” But we all know what he is like and if he says he’s feeling Ok and he’s willing, then we don’t have to make the team nominations until Thursday before the draw.
“We will not be making a decision on it until then. It’s unlikely but we might as well keep our options open for as long as we possibly can.”
The good news for Smith, Britain’s shrewd captain, is that Serbia are without their star, with Djokovic still licking his wounds after his shock defeat by Sam Querrey at Wimbledon. Viktor Troicki, the world No32, is also out and Britain’s task certainly looks considerably less daunting when one considers that Serbia lack depth in the singles and have a doubles player who celebrated his 40th birthday last month.
Nenad Zimonjic won a doubles rubber against Andy Murray and Greg Rusedski when Serbia triumphed in Glasgow 10 years ago. He is 26th in the doubles rankings, while Jamie Murray is the world No5 and Australian Open champion. With his younger brother on the sidelines, his partner is likely to be Dominic Inglot, a doubles specialist.
It would be a mistake to underestimate Britain given that they are the defending champions. They will not fear Serbia. Dusan Lajovic is the world No82, Filip Krajinovic the world No108. The potentially dangerous Janko Tipsarevic is a former top-10 player but the 32-year-old is the world No411 after a long absence through injury.
Equally, though, it was Murray who carried Britain to that historic win against Belgium in November and he was at his demented best when they began the defence of their title by beating Japan 3-1 in March. However, when Murray was asked on Monday about the future of British tennis, his answer contrasted with the stinging volley he aimed at the Lawn Tennis Association in the aftermath of that final triumph in Ghent. “When I finish it would be nice if British tennis was in a better place than when I came in,” he said. “I think it’s going in a good direction just now. There’s a few players doing well.”
One of them is Evans, the maverick 26-year-old who reached the third round of Wimbledon before succumbing to Roger Federer. Yet Evans is a major doubt with a shoulder injury that Smith admitted was “a lot worse than we first feared” and Ward, who has plummeted to 240th in the rankings after a wretched run which included a first-round Wimbledon defeat in straight sets by Djokovic, has been called up as a precaution. Ward’s recent form is not encouraging, though he is more accomplished on clay than Evans and the 29-year-old Londoner has solid Davis Cup experience. Murray ended the 79-year wait but Ward played his part with a crucial victory over John Isner in the first round against the USA.
Edmund is not fazed by clay and the 21-year old showed a good temperament when he went two sets up in the final against Belgium’s David Goffin last year. Although Edmund was desperately disappointed to lose to Adrian Mannarino in the first round at Wimbledon, Smith has been impressed with the world No68’s performances on the dirt, not least a recent 7-6, 6-0 victory against Krajinovic in the final of a Challenger event in Rome.
Murray trusts his friends and colleagues. That informs his decision to stand aside for now. Yet they have leant on him so heavily until this point that a journey into the unknown beckons for the rest of the travelling party.
