London: Andy Murray was left out of Great Britain’s initial four-man team for next week’s Davis Cup World Group first-round meeting with Canada, which was announced on Tuesday.
Captain Leon Smith says Murray needs rest following his shock Australian Open fourth-round defeat at the hands of Germany’s Mischa Zverev.
But he has not ruled out drafting the world No. 1 into the team if he changes his mind about competing in the Ottawa match, which begins on February 3.
“We will continue to speak with Andy in the coming days regarding his potential involvement and if he decides he would like to be part of the team, then we can of course change the nominations as necessary,” said Smith.
In Murray’s expected absence, Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot are due to line up for Britain at the TD Place Arena.
The winners of the tie will play either France or Japan in the quarter-finals in April, with the losers facing a relegation play-off after the US Open in September.
Murray’s next tournament is scheduled to be the Dubai Duty Free Championships at the end of February.
He inspired Britain to glory in the 2015 Davis Cup — their first triumph in the tournament since 1936 — but they fell to eventual champions Argentina in last year’s semi-finals.
French Davis Cup captain Yannick Noah, meanwhile, left Gael Monfils out of his team on Tuesday then drew a parallel between the French No. 1 and scandal-tainted footballer Karim Benzema, adds report from Paris.
“Benzema also is out of the national side,” said Noah, justifying his decision to sideline Monfils for the February 3-5 tie against Japan in Tokyo.
Real Madrid striker Benzema has been excluded from the French football team following his implication in a sex-tape and blackmail case, which is before the French courts.
There was no suggestion of impropriety on the part of Monfils, but the player is known to have upset Noah because of alleged lack of commitment to representing his country.
Noah complained that last year Monfils, enjoying his best season, barely showed up for the national side in the Davis Cup.
