Davis Cup 2016: Fatigued Andy Murray to dig deep for Great Britain against Argentina

Exclusive: Leon Smith expects Olympic champion Andy Murray to plough through
No time for rest: Andy Murray in practice yesterday, when he needed to take occasional breathers ahead of Britain’s Davis Cup semi-final tie against Argentina
REUTERS
Matt Majendie @mattmajendie15 September 2016

Andy Murray will pick himself up from near exhaustion at the US Open to inspire Great Britain to a second straight Davis Cup Final, according to captain Leon Smith.

Under the spotlight for the first time since his US Open exit, Murray understandably looked sluggish here on court at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena yesterday as he was put through his paces in a practice session by Dan Evans, the 29-year-old showing the effects of an arduous season.

Evans looked the fresher as Murray took the occasional timeout to catch his breath after a packed summer in which he has won Wimbledon, claimed an Olympic gold and reached the final of the Cincinnati Masters before losing in the quarter-finals of the US Open.

But Smith expects Murray to raise his game once more when the tie against Argentina gets under way tomorrow, and drew parallels to last year’s Davis Cup semi-final against Australia.

“The Davis Cup means a lot to Andy,” Smith told Standard Sport. “His commitment is amazing. He’s a very very tough individual both physically and mentally. He’s very robust. There’s tiredness there and fatigue but it’s how he’s able to manage it.

“We saw it last year against Australia, he was really tired physically coming to Glasgow. He had some issues but he managed to find a way to play all three days again.”

Murray has enjoyed the most successful season of his career in winning both Wimbledon and the Olympics for the second time, and defending the Davis Cup would be the icing on the cake.

Smith, who coached Murray as a junior, said those triumphs have been rubbing off on the rest of the squad.

“We’ve got an unbelievable leader in Andy and his commitment to the team has been phenomenal,” said Smith. “You just watch him week in, week out and all you want is players to do their best and he does that every week.

“He fights for every ball, he fights for every game. He never gives up and works extremely professionally. That has to over time have an effect on the others. Just look at Jamie [Murray], he comes along and becomes a Grand Slam winner in his own right, becomes No1 in the world and he’s playing great.

“You can also see the impact it’s had on Kyle [Edmund], who’s halved his ranking every year now and those US Open wins over Richard Gasquet and John Isner at the US Open say it all.

“Then there’s Dan Evans, whose ranking has gone from 700-odd to nearly top 50 and he came very close to beating the US Open champion in Stan Wawrinka.”

Argentina are in their 11th semi-final in 15 years although they have never gone on to win the title.

They have won three of their four ties against Britain, their last victory in 2008 saw them not losing a single set in a live rubber.

Britain’s only victory over Argentina was way back in 1928 but Smith backed his players to break that run against a Juan Martin del Potro-inspired Argentina line-up.

“The good thing about the Davis Cup is you get a chance to play best of five in big arenas, in front of sell-out crowds and against big names,” added Smith.

US Open Tennis 2016 - In pictures

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“It gives them the experience but also the taste for that, what it feels and looks like. Kyle and Dan had to figure out how they were going to get there and they’ve both done that.

“As a result, our team is better [than the one that won the Davis Cup last year] on ranking and everyone’s at a much higher level. It all bodes well for what will be a very difficult tie.”

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