Murray unlikely to play in Davis Cup ahead of Australian Open

Andy Murray does not intend to play in next month’s Davis Cup following his defeat in Indian Wells and says he does not deserve to be selected anyway.

The former world number one bowed out of the BNP Paribas Open in California after a straight-sets loss to world number four Alexander Zverev on Tuesday.

Defeat ends a solid two months of action for the 34-year-old both in Europe and the U.S and he is not prepared to risk injury by playing in the team competition.

It was two years ago that Murray further stalled his comeback from his hip replacement by suffering bruising to his pelvis in the 2019 Davis Cup.

This had severely affected his 2020 activity.

Murray wants to ensure he gets enough rest and time with the family at the end of November before an earlier than usual departure to Australia for next January’s grand slam.

“I’ve given a lot to the Davis Cup, and sometimes to my own detriment physically,” he said.

“The same thing happened last time I played Davis Cup at the end of 2019. I know there was coronavirus, but I was struggling with that really up until September time the following year.

“I also don’t feel right now I would be playing, either. Obviously that would be up to Leon (Smith, captain), but I’m not sure I deserve to play in that team.

“Cam [Norrie] and Dan [Evans] have had a great year, Liam Broady’s in and around the top 100 now and we’ve got very strong doubles as well.

“Right now, I’m not planning on playing the Davis Cup and with the late finish to it, and early departure to Australia, with my schedule between now and the end of the year, I am going to have to rest and take a break and give my body a chance to breathe.”

The Scot says fitness is not an issue, but his form is.

“It’s pretty hard playing top-level professional sport with a metal hip. There’s obviously lots of, sort of I guess, compensation sort of happening around that area, like the pelvis and the lumbar spine,” he said. “I will imagine my body is taking some time to get used to that.

“On top of that I’m not young either. I’ve played a lot of years on the tour as well. So, there’s some wear and tear in other parts of my body, too.

“This is physically the best I’ve felt for a while. I’m sort of battling my game a little bit, the consistency isn’t there. I don’t know, the decision-making is not great in the important moments still.”