London: Andy Murray has been included in Britain’s Davis Cup team for the group stage of the competition in Glasgow next month but there is no place yet for rising star Jack Draper.
Murray joins Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and the world doubles number one Joe Salisbury in the line-up for Britain’s matches against the United States, Kazakhstan, and the Netherlands at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena.
Murray has experienced a tumultuous 2022 after reaching the final at the ATP Stuttgart, but failed to get past the second round of Wimbledon following defeat to John Isner and succumbed to first-round exits in Washington and in Montreal.
Twenty-year-old Draper has surged from outside the top 250 to 55 in the rankings this season but Murray, who is eight places higher, was given the nod on Monday to provide singles competition to Wimbledon semifinalist Norrie and 23rd-ranked Evans.
A fifth player will be added later, giving Draper a further chance to stake his claim along with doubles specialist Neal Skupski, who won his sixth title of the season with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof in Montreal on Sunday.
Murray will play in the competition for the first time since 2019 having missed the most recent edition last November when Britain lost to Germany in the quarterfinals.
He is guaranteed a hero’s welcome at home, with Britain playing their matches on September 14, 16 and 18.
“It’s always special playing in a Davis Cup tie in front of a home crowd,” Murray was quoted as saying by DPA.
“Some of the best moments of my career have come representing my country in the Davis Cup so to be a part of the team again means a lot. Obviously, it’s exciting that the competition is returning to Glasgow. We’ve had some brilliant results there in the past and this is another chance for us to create even more history. We’ve got a strong team and we’ll be giving everything we can to get the win for the fans and book our place in the finals.”
Norrie has usurped Murray as the British No.1 and made it to the semifinals of Wimbledon for the first time ahead of a defeat to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. It’s not all gone the 26-year-old’s way though after he was most recently defeated in the Canadian Open quarter-finals by Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“Coming into a Davis Cup as the British No. 1 — it doesn’t get much better than that,” he explained.
–IANS