London: A disappointed Andy Murray feels he is still game to shoulder Great Britain’s expectations for a Davis Cup crown after nearly eight decades.
Though Great Britain has been one of the most successful Davis Cup nations with nine titles — the same as France — their last swing came only in 1978 where they lost in the final.
Great Britain banked heavily on Murray to power their way into the final this year. They started off with a Round One 3-2 win over the USA in Glasgow in March, and followed it up with a 3-1 verdict against France in London in July, to finally book their place in the final following their 3-2 result against Australia once again in Murray’s backyard of Glasgow.
Next week, the Murray brothers will be waiting to fulfil a long-standing moment in Davis Cup history as Great Britain seeks a tenth title after a break of 79 years.
Coming into the season finale at the hard courts at O2, Murray spent nearly a week getting used to the clay courts at the Queens Club. In London, he did well to start on a promising note with an emphatic 6-4, 6-4 win over David Ferrer in their opener giving the impression that he had made the switch on surfaces.
However, he caved in to Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka in his next two matches and lost out on a semi-final spot against former six-time champion Roger Federer.
“This is obviously a big event. When you’re playing and competing against the best players, obviously it’s very important. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in a smaller event or here. So that’s why I’m disappointed with the losses the last two days. But this is an event that I would have liked to have done better over the years. It just hasn’t quite happened for me and I’m disappointed about that,” Murray said.
“I do enjoy playing here as there are great crowds and a good atmosphere. It’s a really nice venue to play in and I wish I could have done better,” he hoped.
Following the loss to Wawrinka on Friday night, Murray refused to turn his attentions to Ghent, Belgium where the Davis Cup final will be played next weekend.
“My attention will be on Davis Cup in a few days as it’s a great opportunity for everyone. We look forward to it. But, right now, no,” Murray said.
“I’m not thinking about next week. But timing the ball is never normally something that is an issue for me. I normally strike the ball fairly well. In fact, it is one of the stronger parts of my game. So that’s something that I would imagine would come back fairly quickly. But, yeah, I mean, right now I’m not so much concerned about next week,” he stressed.
