The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Rocky road to number one taking toll on Scot Murray
Smith says reaching pinnacle has come at cost
Leon Smith believes Andy Murray could be paying the price of his efforts to get to world number one.
The 29-year-old has been ruled out of Great Britain’s Davis Cup quarter-final against France next weekend by the elbow injury that forced him to miss the Miami Open.
Team captain Smith has instead named Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot as the quartet who will travel to Rouen for the tie at the Kindarena from April 7 to 9. Murray had hoped to pick up where he left off after a spectacular finish to last season but 2017 so far has not gone to plan.
After a gruelling winter training camp, Murray appeared jaded at the Australian Open and his fourth-round loss was followed by a diagnosis of shingles. TheScot returned to action by winning a title in Dubai but then came the elbow injury, along with a virus, and his withdrawal from Miami.
Smith said: “He’s had a few things with shingles and now this. There’s no doubt he played unbelievably well last year, especially the second half of the year, with so much tennis that maybe the effects of that are taking place. But it’s bad luck as well. He’s in great shape. He’s a healthy guy, looks after himself as well as anyone.”
There has as yet been no official update from the Murray camp on the nature of his injury or a timescale for recovery but his brother Jamierevealed at theweekendthat he had a “tear” in the joint.
France are also missing leading players, with Gael Monfils injured, Richard Gasquet recovering from an appendixoperationand Jo-Wilfried Tsonga spending time with his newborn son.
But they still have two top-25 players to call on in Lucas Pouille and Gilles Simon, while Nicolas Mahut and PierreHugues Herbert are the reigning Wimbledon doubles champions.
The fact the tie is being played on clay would appear to reduce Britain’s chances of victory further. While Edmund is unusual in favouring the red stuff, and won two rubbers on it against Serbia last year, Evans has not played a match on clay for nearly two years. The 26- year- old has made no secret of his dislike of the surface.