Murray blameless as Britain tumble into third tier of tennis

Published on Sunday 20 September 2009 22:42

GREAT Britain have the third best player in the world in Andy Murray, but in terms of the Davis Cup they are now officially third rate after their 3-2 defeat by Poland at the Echo Arena yesterday.

Murray beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to level the tie 2-2, but Dan Evans then lost 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 to Michal Przysiezny, and as a result the British team were relegated from Euro Africa Zone Group 1 for the first time since 1994.

The rise of Tim Henman and the arrival from Canada of Greg Rusedski brought about a return to Group 1, the level below the elite World Group, two years later. But those players were world class; the difference at present is that no-one else in British men's tennis is anywhere close to Murray's stature.

Alex Bogdanovic, the country's No 2 for much of the time since Henman and Rusedski faded away, has been tried and found wanting in Davis Cup competition. Murray's fellow Scot Jamie Baker showed promise for a time, but has not recovered his best form since contracting a life-threatening virus in the spring of 2008. James Ward and Josh Goodall were both selected for the squad against Poland but fell ill, which gave Evans his chance to make his debut this weekend.

He lost both his matches, rarely playing his best, but at 19 he shows some promise and should certainly not be hastily discarded. The same goes for team captain John Lloyd, who could not be accused of ignoring the claims of any superior candidate in favour of Evans for this tie, or in general of being the cause of British travails in the competition.

It is hard to know where, if anywhere, the buck should stop. Murray was asked that question once relegation was confirmed, and admitted that it was difficult to put one's finger on the problem.

"I'm not around the men's tennis stuff enough to know whose fault it is," he said. "That's for the LTA to decide. It's not for me to decide who should lose their jobs if we have a couple of bad ties."

The Lawn Tennis Association receives 25million from Wimbledon every year as well as substantial sums in sponsorship by AEGON, and by definition it is not making the best use of that money, particularly when it comes to the men's game. And whichever LTA officials may be held responsible for failing to appoint the best youth coaches or put the best programmes in place, the harsh fact is that there will be no overnight solution.

"There are groups of juniors pushing up the rankings just now," Murray continued. "But it's going to take three, four, five or six years before that batch are ready."

Murray will have a scan on his injured wrist today which he hopes will let him know how long he needs to take a break from playing. He suspects it is tendinitis, and is eager to get the trouble sorted so he can play in the ATP Finals in London in November. "There's no ideal time (to take a break] because of the way the schedule works now. There's a big tournament in London at the end of the year and I want to make sure I'm fit for that."

He also remains eager, as he insisted throughout the weekend, to keep on playing for Britain, but accepted that Group 2 could provide some valuable experience for the likes of Evans. "With or without me we're not winning. This could be the best thing that happens, because it will give Dan and the other guys ranked in the 200s the chance to play in and win Davis Cup ties.

"I've said all along I'll play if I'm fit. But the coach could look to the future. There wouldn't be a whole lot of progress if I played and we won promotion then we go straight back down.

"If John or whoever don't want me to play, that's their decision. I'll wait and see what's offered to me."

Lloyd seconded Murray's opinion that demotion could work in Britain's favour by allowing some of our younger players the chance to learn what it takes to win in the Davis Cup.

"I'm not happy with where we are – I'd be an idiot if I was – but when I look at Dan and some of the other guys, Group 2 will not be a bad place to be," he said.

"In a perverse way I think it will do some of the guys the world of good. Having said that, if Andy said he wouldn't mind playing, it would be difficult for me to say no."

The reality is that, while Murray wants to remain publicly committed to the team and takes exception whenever anyone suggests he lacks the enthusiasm to play for Great Britain, selecting him against some of the countries who await in Group 2 would be like taking the proverbial sledgehammer to a nut.

If Evans and company cannot get the better of Monaco, Egypt and the like, it is up to the LTA to find out why, and then to ensure those players improve, or replace them with younger ones who can get it right.

&#149 Rafael Nadal is expected to return for this year's Davis Cup final after watching Spain defeat Israel at Polaris World la Torre Golf Resort in Murcia.

Nadal is currently injured with an abdominal problem but was in the stands for the first two days as Spain established a 3-0 lead in their World Group semi-final, leaving them a day to celebrate.

In the remaining rubbers, David Ferrer defeated Andy Ram 6-3, 6-1 to extend Spain's lead but Harel Levy made it 4-1 by securing a 7-5, 6-2 win over Feliciano Lopez.

Czech Republic were also 3-0 up on Croatia heading into the final day of the other semi-final in Porec.

Jan Hajek defeated Roko Karanusic 7-6, 6-4 to hand another tie to the Czechs, before Croatia reduced the deficit to 4-1 when Lovro Zovko beat Lukas Dlouhy 6-3, 6-4.

"It's unbelievable," Radek Stepanek said. "We didn't think we would cruise to a 3-0 lead against the powerful Croats."

The final will be in Spain, and probably on clay, in December.