Blow for GB as Murray misses quarter-final
● Britain will head into last-eight clash with France as heavy underdogs after elbow injury rules world No 1 out of tie
Great Britain’s hopes of reaching the Davis Cup semi-finals suffered a major blow after Andy Murray was ruled out of next month’s last-eight clash with France through injury.
The world No 1 withdrew from the Miami Open because of an elbow problem and it has now been confirmed he will not be part of Britain’s team in Rouen. Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot will take on the French on indoor clay at the Kindarena from 7-9 April.
There has yet been no official update from the Murray camp on the nature of the Scot’s injury but his brother Jamie revealed at the weekend that he had a “tear” in the joint.
Murray was also suffering from a virus prior to flying home to London last week and was told to rest by doctors.
British Davis Cup captain Leon Smith, pictured, said: “This is a team with significant Davis Cup experience now and these guys have all stepped up and delivered performances at the very top of the competition.
“Not having Andy in the side is obviously a big loss to our team but most importantly we all wish him well for a speedy recovery back to full health and fitness. I know that he would really want to be here with the rest of the team.
“Facing France in a Davis Cup tie is a tough test for any group of players and this Rouen quarter-final will be no exception. They have the strongest depth of squad by far out of any nation in the competition.”
France captain Yannick Noah named Lucas Pouille, Gilles Simon, Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-hugues Herbert in his team. The hosts are missing Richard Gasquet, who is recovering from an appendix operation, and new father Jowilfried Tsonga, while Gael Monfils is injured and has only been named as a reserve.
But, in Pouille and Simon, they can still call on players ranked 15 and 25 respectively, while Mahut and Herbert are the reigning Wimbledon champions, although they have not been in great form this season. Winning the match would have been a tough task for GB even with Murray. Without him, they will be heavy underdogs. Much will depend on world No 45 Edmund, whose favourite surface is clay and he stepped up impressively in Murray’s absence from the team against Serbia last summer, winning both singles rubbers. Evans is ranked marginally higher at 43 but has not competed on clay in nearly two years, while his only tour-level win on the surface came in a Davis Cup dead rubber in 2013.
Smith, however, sees no reason why Evans cannot perform on clay, citing the example of Tim Henman, who reached the French Open semi-finals in 2004 having previously struggled on the red stuff. “He learned to play on it really, really well,” said the Scot. “Dan’s serve is good on any surface, his forehand can be a weapon, he obviously moves great so I don’t see why he can’t play well on it.”
Britain last played France at the same stage two years ago, when Murray was the hero on grass at Queen’s Club in arguably the key victory of their title-winning run.