Fitness has to come first for Murray
Andy Murray has said he did not want to“let his country down”after deciding not to play Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie in Glasgow next week.
The 31 year-old Dunblane ace will instead continue his rehabilitation following hip surgery in January.
“I found this decision emotionally challenging,”the former world number one posted on social media.
“Having been born in Glasgow and growing up in Scotland, I would never have imagined I would see such passionate fans packing out stadiums for tennis matches.”
He spoke to British captain Leon Smith about only playing in the doubles before deciding his best long-term option was to miss the World Group play-off against Uzbekistan.
Instead, he will continue with rehabilitation work away from the court.
“Having been recommended to take a couple of weeks off hitting to continue my reconditioning, I didn’t want to just show up not ready to perform to a high enough standard and ultimately let my team-mates and country down,”said Murray.
“With this possibly being my last chance to compete in Scotland as a professional, I really wanted to be there with the team.”
Big brother Jamie Murray will be there in the doubles, partnered by Dom Inglot, and he will be taking a bit of form with him.
He and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares have reached the US Open quarter-finals, hoping to repeat their win of two years ago.
They have yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows and reached the quarters with a 7-6 6-4 victory over Dutchmen Matwe Middelkoop and Robin Haase. They meet Moldova’s Radu Albot and Tunisia’s Malez Jaziri next.
He is also in the mixed doubles semi-final with USA’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Murray won the title with Martina Hingis 12 months ago. SQUASH: PAGE 55 RUGBY: PAGE 53