Scottish Daily Mail

PASS THE DUTCH

Murray may skip Holland opener as Britain launch Davis Cup campaign

- MIKE DICKSON

There are certain privileges that come with winning three Grand Slams and a Davis Cup for your country. In the case of Andy Murray, this week he has been allowed to remove discreetly the Great Britain team’s clothing sponsors’ logo from his kit. he is launching his own line of tennis wear through Castore, in which he has a stake.

So in sartorial terms he was slightly the odd man out when the squad lined up to preview today’s opening Davis Cup finals match against holland.

Otherwise Murray is deeply embedded in the British squad’s efforts to win this event in its new format as they begin the round-robin stage.

It will be Murray’s first appearance since winning the european Open in Antwerp on October 20, although both he and Leon Smith, the team captain, left the possibilit­y open that he might just sit it out. Murray admitted that, having taken some time off, he might yet save himself for possible exertions later in the week. As Britain’s No 2 singles player — due to his falsely low ranking — Murray would probably face Botic van de Zandschulp, ranked 200th in the world, and instead that task could be left to Dan evans or Kyle edmund, who yesterday confirmed, as first revealed by

Sportsmail, that once this week is over he will team up with Franco Davin, Juan Martin del Potro’s former coach.

As for Britain’s opponents, Dutch tennis has seen much better days, and they are weaker than Britain’s second group opponents, Kazakhstan.

‘Playing five days in a row is going to be tough just now,’ Murray said. ‘I did it in Antwerp and got through that tournament quite well. But it was tough and I’ve had a bit of a break as well.’

Murray was also troubled in Antwerp by an elbow injury. ‘I’ve lost a little bit of weight, not as much as I would like. Physically my elbow has been really good, so that’s positive.’

It also looks like Liverpool’s Neal Skupski will make his Davis Cup debut alongside regular partner Jamie Murray, at least in the early matches.

Andy Murray acknowledg­ed that if GB made it to the latter stages, then it could be that his big-match experience alongside his brother would be called upon.

‘There’s a difference between playing a final or maybe a quarter-final potentiall­y,’ he said. ‘You have to think slightly differentl­y at the beginning of the event than if you’re in the final.’

The Dutch, who lost 2-1 to Kazakhstan yesterday, have a relatively strong doubles pairing in robin haase and Jean-Julien rojer, and in the new format every match and set counts.

The event seems to be getting broadly decent reviews from the players, although there have been complaints from fans everywhere about its hopeless website and app.

A near full stadium is expected for Britain v holland, although crowds were mixed yesterday.

There was a lively attendance for Argentina v Chile, but it was sparse for France’s narrow win over Japan.

France holds a deep love for this competitio­n’s traditions but initially, at least, it seems that their supporters are saying ‘Non

merci’ to Gerard Pique and his fellow organisers.

 ??  ?? Brand leader: Murray’s up for the Davis Cup
Brand leader: Murray’s up for the Davis Cup
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom