SMITH IS BACKING ANDY FOR DAVIS CUP RETURN

Glasgow over the next three days. GB will be without treble Grand Slam winner Murray and new British No 1 Kyle Edmund as they take on Uzbekistan at the Emirates Arena from tomorrow. Murray stayed in the States to continue rehab from his hip operation after the US Open, while Edmund is recovering from illness. Smith, who will rely heavily on doubles specialist Jamie Murray, said he expects Andy to return — especially as the tournament is rejigged into a less demanding format for leading players. ‘I don’t see why not,’ said Smith of his fellow Scot. ‘He loves playing in the team event. He has played some of his best tennis in the Davis Cup. ‘Now that the format’s been changed, I’ve talked to all the guys about it. ‘Embrace it and give it a good go. ‘I think Andy, if he’s fit, healthy and it works for him, he’ll be part of it. ‘The most important thing for him is carrying on with the rehab. The pull of playing here was so, so strong. But he’s done really well in New York — now he has to go back and do his work again, to make sure it’s safe and good for the next phase of tournaments. ‘I know he considered this very strongly. But you don’t just turn up for one day of doubles. It eats into pretty much a whole week of the work he’s been doing for seven, eight hours a day. ‘You add that up and it’s quite a big chunk of rehab he would miss. So it was the right decision. But we will miss him. ‘Kyle is the same. So, we are missing our headline acts. But if you look at the team, we have Jamie in such great form, who is a huge pull here. Cam Norrie, his pathway has been absolutely different. ‘Dan Evans has played some very good tennis in a short space of time. ‘Jay Clarke is doing great and we have got a raft of doubles guys from Dom Inglot, who is back at 23 in the world, to a whole bunch of others in the top 100.’

THE Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Play-Off between Great Britain and Uzbekistan takes place this weekend at The Emirates Arena in Glasgow. Single and three-day tickets are available now from £37 at lta.org.uk/DavisCup

ANDY MURRAY will definitely be back to represent Great Britain in the revamped Davis Cup, according to team captain Leon Smith. But the skipper says his squad need to prove themselves capable of winning without their biggest ‘headline acts’ in