Andy Murray should not be allowed to play for Great Britain’s Davis Cup side later this year despite the clear improvement he would bring to the team.
The world number two opted to stay away from Davis Cup duties last weekend as GB faced Russia for the right to play in the World Group Playoffs in September, insisting the three days in Coventry would hamper his training regime for the French Open in late May.
Dan Evans, James Ward, Colin Fleming, and Jonathan Marray were sent out to win an improbable tie with Russia and the quartet played their hearts out inside Coventry’s Ricoh Arena to battle through 3-2.
(source: http://www.coventrytelegraph.net)
For the first time since 1930, Team GB came back from 2-0 down to win a Davis Cup tie and the heroic four that got us there all deserve their chance to represent their country in the Playoffs.
The team, led by captain, Leon Smith, required an inspirational fight back after losing the both opening singles rubbers. Fleming and Marray got the ball rolling with a three-set doubles victory to halve the deficit and, when Ward beat off Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 5-7 5-7 6-4 6-4, the pressure fell on Evans to convert the win.
Evans was cool and collected in his three-set demolition of Evgeny Donskoy
For Murray to simply walk into the side in September would be a real shame, for he does not deserve to partake in this tournament if he does not care for it in the early rounds.
To make matters worse, Evans is most likely to be the man to make way for Murray, yet the 22-year-old put his body on the line over last weekend and was not instead thinking of himself.
Of course, fans of tennis would love to see us qualify for the World Group but there should remain a sense of pride in this team; no player – no matter how good he is – should be allowed to pick and choose when he plays.
(article courtesy of Betfair.com)
