Jamie Murray says brother’s ranking is trump card

JAMIE MURRAY hopes brother Andy’s lowly ranking can be a trump card for Great Britain as they get their Davis Cup campaign under way in Madrid.

Andy is playing in the Davis Cup for the first time since the 2016 semi-finals but is in the unusual position of being the singles No.2, with Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund battling for the No.1 spot courtesy of their higher rankings.

That means Andy will take on the weaker singles player from each nation, for which he would be a clear favourite against most teams.

Jamie said: “Obviously it’s great for us to have Andy playing, that’s always going to increase our chances of doing well against whoever we play. It’s obviously a big advantage for us that he’s playing at No.2 in this competition, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”

Britain’s success in Davis Cup in recent years has been built on Andy Murray’s excellence, and prowess in doubles.

The change of format has reduced the number of rubbers in each tie from five to three, with the doubles now played at the end instead of in the middle.

Should Britain face a deciding doubles rubber, captain Leon Smith will have to decide whether to reunite the Murray brothers or keep Jamie with his regular partner, Neal Skupski, who has been named in the side for the first time.

Jamie and Skupski have een playing together since

June and have gelled after a rocky start, reaching the semi-finals of the US Open.

Skupski, 29, said: “It’s been an unreal week so far. The atmosphere in the camp is really good.

“Obviously I’ve been the rookie of the week, giving speeches and stuff, but I’ve really enjoyed it.

“Practice has been going well. I’m not sure I’ll get the call up on Wednesday but

I’ll be ready to play and see how it goes.”