The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Murray called up to GB’s Davis Cup finals squad
TENNIS: Scot in team for Madrid after winning first ATP Tour title since comeback
Andy Murray has been named in Great Britain’s squad for the new-format Davis Cup in Madrid next month.
GB captain Leon Smith has named four of his five-man team, with Dan Evans, Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski included alongside fit-again Andy Murray.
On Sunday, the former world number one claimed his first ATP Tour title for more than two and a half years after beating Stan Wawrinka in the final of the European Open in Antwerp.
It was only the sixth singles event the 32-year-old Scot has competed in since returning from the hip resurfacing operation he had in January.
Smith, who will name the team’s fifth player in the coming weeks, said in a press release: “I’m delighted to name our first four players to represent GB for the Davis Cup finals.
“Dan is playing some of the best tennis of his career and firmly deserves his place back inside the world’s Top 50.
“It’s been absolutely fantastic to see Andy back competing again, headlined by his incredible win in Antwerp yesterday. Jamie and Neal have been gaining much momentum as a team with impressive semi-final runs at Cincinnati, US Open, Beijing and Shanghai.
“We are in a good positions with improved strength and depth in our team and will be naming the fifth player in the next couple of weeks.
“We are looking forward to bringing our best tennis to the group phase.”
The new-format Davis Cup will have a round-robin stage before the group winners and the next two top teams advance to the knockout stages.
The tournament takes place on the hard courts of La Caja Magica in Madrid from November 18-24.
The ties themselves will have two singles matches and one doubles, all of which will be best-of-three tie-break sets.
Great Britain are in Group E with Holland and Kazakhstan, who they face on November 20 and 21 respectively.
Meanwhile, Murray is looking to the future with unabashed optimism after one of the most remarkable achievements of his career.
He said: “I need to now start talking more about my future and I am certainly a lot more optimistic now.
“When I spoke to my team before the trip to Asia, I was like, ‘What are the goals here?’ And I was like, ‘I just want to be competitive. I want to feel that when I am on the court I am not getting smashed by guys’.
“I wasn’t thinking, ‘I am going to win tournaments’ or ‘I am going to beat guys like Stan and (Matteo) Berrettini’. So this has come as a surprise to me and my team.”
Kyle Edmund, a notable absentee from the Great Britain squad for the Davis Cup finals, slumped to an eighth successive loss on the ATP Tour as the former British number one was beaten by Italy’s Berrettini in the first round of the Erste Bank Open.
Edmund was swept aside 3-6 6-3 6-4 by the third seed in Vienna.
GB captain Smith had given Edmund and Cameron Norrie an extra couple of weeks to find some form.
However, after taking the first set, 24-year-old Edmund was outclassed to leave him without an ATP win since early August.